In film, there are some movie plots that just seem to repeat themselves every few years. Deep, enthralling dramas, gritty war flicks, even the occasional horror slasher that feels all too similar to one another. For some reason, the film we keep seeing come back is the comedy based around a newly found couple meeting each other’s wacky family. We saw it in 1967’s Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Starring Sidney Portier. We again saw it in 2000’s Meet the Parents AND 2004’s Meet the Fockers, and 2005’s Guess Who. Now, in 2023, we get You People, the latest film from Jonah Hill starring Hill, Eddie Murphy, Lauren London and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and directed by Kenya Barris.
You People follows this sort of formulaic premise. Jonah Hill plays Ezra, a white, Jewish man working in finance and living in LA, who moonlights as a podcast host about black culture. Ezra is notably a 35-year-old single man, but when he meets Lauren London’s Amira, a hard-working, black fashion designer, they fall in love. When they each have to meet each other’s families, the awkwardness ensues all the way to their wedding day. It’s a cookie cutter plot that is fun on the surface but suffers from pacing issues and predictability by the end of its runtime.
The premise is definitely interesting, yet things were introduced in the film only to be left by the wayside. The fact that Ezra is 35 and perpetually single felt like something that would be explored in much greater detail than it was. In fact, this was only ever mentioned once and never brought up again, and it had zero factor in Ezra finding true love. This was another thing that seemed to be brushed over so quickly. Ezra went on only one other date before finding the perfect person in (admittedly) a very unique and modern day meet cute. In addition, when we first meet Amira, she is being pursued by her ex-boyfriend, a person we only ever see in this scene and never hear from again. Its these half-realized ideas that weigh the film down.
There are aspects of You People that I do genuinely enjoy. I think it’s refreshing to see podcasts get more of a spotlight in popular culture, and I felt this film actually represented the medium well. I also really genuinely enjoyed Hill and London’s on-screen chemistry, and they were very believable as a couple, more than most other rom coms. Jonah Hill was also extremely funny in his normal brand of awkward humor, which was refreshing to see. Yet, these positives are tough to overcome the negatives throughout the film. The film relies heavily on the awkwardness of the situations in order to breed the humor, which works well the first 2 or 3 times it happens, but by the 25th time, it gets old and boring. The satirical nature of the film is also a nice touch: The white guy (or family) is obsessed with black culture and thinks they can truly understand or “be” black because they study it or listen to black music or what have you is really interesting. Yet, the concept never feels fully explored beyond a surface level understanding, enough to get jokes out of.
By far the most egregious sin this movie committed, however, is the use of Eddie Murphy. Murphy plays Akbar, Amira’s stern father, who is not a fan of Ezra and tries to ruin their relationship. What I hate about this casting is that Akbar as a character is not written to be funny. He’s a stone cold, straight faced, unfunny father figure, and that is just tough to watch with Murphy in the role. Eddie Murphy is one of the greatest comedians and comedic actors of all time, and the fact that in a comedy film he had maybe 2 jokes is just terrible on the writers. It’s a waste of Murphy’s talent and I wish they had done better. It’s even tougher to see when Murphy has the funniest bit in the movie (see the music in the car scene with Hill).
Final Thoughts
You People is serviceable enough to be enjoyed on a first watch through, but unfortunately doesn’t do enough to be memorable. There are some dramatic moments that are done well, and the comedy, while overdone, does work. It’s unfortunate that You People really boils down to being nothing more than a culture-clashing, modern day Meet the Fockers.
