Directed and co written by Kenya Barris, You People pretty much falls flat on its face because of a poorly written script and underutilising its star studded cast in this star crossed lovers plot.
If you belong to a chaotic and dysfunctional family who doesn’t quite know when to shut up, you’re fairly familiar with the awkwardness, nail biting anxiety and the innate need to put out fires that both set of parents meeting brings up. And that’s what You People is essentially about – an interracial couple at the front and centre who decide on making their widely different families meet once they get engaged.
Cast – Jonah Hill, who’s co written this movie plays Ezra, who works a desk job in a brokerage firm and runs a podcast on the side with his best friend, Mo(Sam Jay). Lauren London plays Amira, a struggling stylist. Eddie Murphy plays Akbar, Amira’s father. Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays Shelley, Ezra’s mother.
Storyline – After an apparent meet cute, Ezra and Amira get to know each other over dates and bond over their love for sneakers amongst other things. Cut to 6 months later when we see them living together and Ezra has marriage on his mind. With the intention of asking for their daughter’s hand, Ezra invites Amira’s parents to lunch and seems to struggle with his speech because he’s so intimidated by the two of them, especially her father, Akbar! Later, he takes Amira home to meet his family and just like he’d predicted, Shelley, his mother just can’t tone it down and keeps talking to Amira about her hair and whether or not she’s heard of Pimp My Ride! Inspite of this rocky start, everything is rather manageable until the two families meet and take it a notch higher with their ‘who had it worse’ conversation – the Jews or the Blacks.
