At the Movies - 'Brown Sugar'

The Associated Press

Smarter than the average romantic comedy, "Brown Sugar" has all the ingredients for a worthy successor to the friends-versus-lovers territory of "When Harry Met Sally."

The movie's formulaic ending proves a disappointment after almost two hours of thoughtful meandering through the obstacle course of platonic relations turning romantic. But the characters are engaging and full-blooded enough to compensate for the cliched conclusion, and the story unfolds with a natural wit and energy that's far more authentic than most big-screen love stories.

Taye Diggs and Sanaa Lathan, who previously co-starred in "The Wood" and "The Best Man," solidify their appeal as romantic leads, pairing for a charming match as old friends whose long-simmering mutual passion heats up just as each tries to settle down with other lovers.

They get first-rate support from Nicole Ari Parker, Boris Kodjoe, Mos Def and Queen Latifah, the last two turning in delightful second-banana roles.

Director Rick Famuyiwa, who co-wrote "Brown Sugar" with Michael Elliot, delivers a worthy follow-up to his 1999 hit "The Wood," slyly using his own love of hip-hop culture as a metaphor for modern love.

Also notable among the filmmakers is Magic Johnson, who takes his first executive producer credit as he expands his entertainment operations, which include TV productions, a music label and a chain of movie theaters.

As Sidney, a respected music critic, Lathan narrates "Brown Sugar," her musings on hip-hop serving as double-entendre observations on her relationship with Dre (Diggs), an executive at a Manhattan hip-hop record label.

Sidney and Dre mark the start of their friendship to a shared moment of bliss when they discovered hip-hop on a New York street corner as teenagers.

Fifteen years later, Sidney is moving back to New York from Los Angeles to take over a hip-hop magazine, just as Dre is preparing to wed a career-minded lawyer (Parker).

Predictably, after all this time as platonic pals, Sidney and Dre dally with romance on the eve of the wedding. But they pull back, the nuptials go off as planned, and soon Sidney finds herself in a serious relationship with a basketball star (Kodjoe).

Sidney and Dre are left to make eyes at each other while making love to someone else.

"Brown Sugar" is powered by a peppy soundtrack and a parade of cameos by musicians including Big Daddy Kane, Slick Rick and De La Soul.

Dre and Sidney's sense that commercialization has sapped the music's purity is paralleled by the audience's perception that the two may be settling for second best in the love department.

Fittingly, the scene-stealers of "Brown Sugar" are the real-life singers, Mos Def as an amiably cynical rapper that Dre pursues for a record deal and Queen Latifah as Sidney's smart and sassy cousin.

Erik Weiner and Reggi Wyns provide goofy laughs as Ren and Ten, a talentless black and white duo who call themselves the "hip-hop Dalmatians."

"Brown Sugar" follows the romantic comedy formula to the letter, but does it so warmly and intelligently that it's easy to forgive the predictability of the movie, which could follow "Barbershop" as another crowd-pleaser that entices viewers beyond its core audience of urban blacks.

Keep an eye out for a sweetly sad Manhattan skyline shot showing the twin pillars of light that shone earlier this year to memorialize the World Trade Center.

"Brown Sugar," a Fox Searchlight release, is rated PG-13 for sexual content and language. Running time: 109 minutes. Three stars out of four.