Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. During this time, it’s easy to be enamoured with the idea of love, especially when images of flowers and chocolates flood social media.
The reality, however, is that it takes much more to make a relationship work. And it can be even more challenging when that relationship is interracial – a common scenario in Malaysia, of course, and one that is explored in Netflix’s romantic comedy “You People”.
Ezra Cohen (Jonah Hill) is a Jewish broker and aspiring podcaster in Los Angeles. He is also 35 years old, single, and looking for love.
One day, everything changes when a Muslim costume designer, Amira Mohammed (Lauren London), enters his life. Their meet-cute is charming: Ezra jumps into Amira’s car thinking she is the Uber ride he ordered.
One thing leads to another, and they fall in love and decide to get married.
Of course, as the old saying goes, when you marry someone, you marry their entire family. So, meet the parents: Arnold (David Duchovny) and Shelley Cohen (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), as well as Akbar (Eddie Murphy) and Fatima Mohammed (Nia Long).
Ezra and Amira’s blissful relationship is soon put to the test as they have to deal with their parents while planning their wedding – a task that is difficult as it is, without the added stress of being from different cultures.
This leads to the all-important question: is love enough?
Written by Hill and Kenya Barris (creator of the TV series “Black-ish”), the movie boasts a stellar cast, including familiar faces such as Elliot Gould (from the “Ocean’s” film series), Mike Epps (“Resident Evil)”, and even Barris himself.
The plot, in all honesty, isn’t particularly new as one may be reminded of movies like “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” or “Guess Who?”. But for what it lacks in originality, it makes up for with humour, warmth and appeal.
Still, there are missed opportunities to delve deeper into the young couple’s characters. For example, Ezra and Amira move in together after they get engaged. What challenges do they face, being of different backgrounds and living under one roof?
Exploring these issues would have made them more three-dimensional and sympathetic to viewers in a country like Malaysia, particularly those who are similarly in an interracial relationship or who have grown up in a mixed-race household.
To its credit, the movie does address another pertinent issue: the generational gap. When Ezra quits his finance job to become a podcaster, Akbar icily asks: “How do you plan on supporting my daughter when you are following your dream?”
It’s hilarious but relatable, and “You People” shines when it offers a comical glimpse of parental perspectives, and how mums and dads want to look out for their children’s best interests.
Clearly there’s no shortage of talent in this film. Veteran comedian Murphy lights up the screen with his protective and no-nonsense demeanour – certainly a nightmare future in-law for any guy.
And although it takes some effort to shine among the vast talent onscreen, Louis-Dreyfus (of “Seinfeld” and “VEEP” fame) manages to do exactly that, through her entertaining mix of charm and overt eagerness to please.
That said, if you’ve grown up during the 1990s or early 2000s, it can be a painful realisation that age is catching up as you watch stars like Murphy, Long, Louis-Dreyfus and Duchovny play the parents of adult children!
So… IS love enough?
At the end of the day, the movie posits that, perhaps, love in and of itself may not be sufficient to make a relationship work. A healthy dose of compromise, whether it’s between lovers or parents, is needed.
There is a line in the classic book “To Kill a Mockingbird” that goes: “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
That, perhaps, is the key to keeping the love alive in a relationship year after year – and not just on Valentine’s Day.
‘You People’ is streaming on Netflix.