Four black men go through the trails and tribulations of love and friendship in the romantic comedy “The Brothers.”
Lifelong friends Jackson Smith (great name!) played by Morris Chestnut, Derrick West (Comedian D.L. Hughley), Brian Palmer (former MTV VJ Bill Bellamy) and Terry White (former soap star Shemar Moore) are more like “brothers” as they give their takes on each other’s personal lives.
There couldn’t be brothers without any sisters and the battle of the sexes is also explored. The two sides analyzing each other’s moves toward each other during stereotypical settings such as the basketball court or a local bar. An amusing twist in “the Brothers,” is how the stereotypes are tampered so it appears that they are not stereotypes.
For example, Terry is the player but his twist is he is going to get married and leave his philandering ways. Jackson Smith is the career driven one who feels he does not need a woman. His twist is he longs for intimacy. Derrick is the married with children man and envies his friends’ independence.
As for Brian, he’s the bachelor who can’t connect to women emotionally only physically. Brian seems to be intimidated by love.
The slight twists in personalities make the characters more likeable after Terry has announced his forthcoming nuptials to his buddies. Their personal love lives entangle their minds
Jackson meets a woman named Denise (Gabrielle Union) but his feelings for her complicate his self-made fear of committing to a woman.
Brian and his demanding wife Shelia (Tamala R. Jones) bicker like married couples do with each other doing whatever it takes to not budge. Their stubbornness is very amusing.
Brian’s dilemma is an going and mutual attraction to white women. That sort of attraction is frowned upon in both social circles .
Clever one-liners about sex, race and more sex are traded in dealing with serous issues like commitment, love and honesty between couples.
All in all this entire movie is more of a date movie . It wasn’t the greatest movie of it’s genre. I’ve ever seen but certainly not the worst. Standouts in the movie include the very funny D.L. Hughley and Bill Bellamy whose comedic and romantic personalities shine throughout the picture.
Is this movie a male version of “Waiting to Exhale”? In a way it is because of the intriguing characters and how they interact with each other. Yet these guys do not want to exhale. They want to be free.
