When it comes to love, some people just really have to grow up, and that’s the basis of Love, Brooklyn, Rachael Abigail Holder’s directorial debut (which was executive produced by Steven Soderbergh) from this year, which also happens to be a portrait of a rapidly changing city and how can it be a backdrop to modern and complex relationships.
Buy Love, Brooklyn DVDAndre Holland stars as Roger, a writer in Brooklyn, New York, who juggles relationships with his ex-girlfriend Casey (Nichole Beharie), the owner of a failing gallery, and Nicole (DeWanda Wise), a massage therapist and recent widower with a very inquisitive young daughter named Ally (Cadence Reese). Somewhat taking advice from his best friend Alan (Roy Wood Jr.), Roger has to figure who he wants to be with and what he wants to do, while feeling the pressure of composing his latest piece on the city.
While the plot seems underwritten and the film feels like a tourist piece, it’s the actors who make it work. They have a lot of talent between them all and manage to give their characters some much-needed depth, despite its essentially about semi people in boring relationships. Roger, our protagonist, maybe just needs to shut up sometimes. He talks a slightly good game, but the two women in his life talk better and call him on his bullshit. Even Ally feels smarter than he does and has a lot of questions to ask. Roger isn’t the best lead, but Holland has immense magnetism to make the character somewhat compelling.
Honestly, despite saying that the film feels like a tourist piece, the best character in this is Brooklyn itself. The life and culture in it are changing with the passage of time, but it is still there. It has enough gravitas to help the characters move along, even at a snail’s pace.
In closing, I liked the film enough to give it at least one watch, but the story could have been much better and more developed. It’s obviously not the best film about New York nor the most riveting relationship tale, but trust me, I have seen much worse. At least this one has actors that give it steam.
There are no special features, but there are trailers for the film itself, as well as those for Free Time, Shoshana, Went Up the Hill, and Angelheaded Hipster.
