A few months back when I saw the first clip for "You People," I knew it would be one of the movies I most looked forward to seeing in January. I've been pleasantly surprised by January's cinematic offerings, given how dry the month usually is in terms of entertaining movies.
From "M3gan" to "When You Finish Saving the World," I've had a good time writing reviews this month. Even "Plane" managed to be more entertaining than I was expecting. Now here we are with a rare treat, Eddie Murphy and Jonah Hill together in a comedy. I haven't laughed this hard in a long time.
From start to finish, "You People" is full of gut-busting laughter. You just have to commit to being uncomfortable for entire chunks of this film, which offers a reality check on the different worlds Black and white people live in. Spoiler alert: I'm an extremely basic white girl, and there are some things in this movie I do not have the authority or experience to write about.
God knows that's not the first such disclaimer I've put in one of my reviews. Looking back at my 2022 review of "Emergency," I wrote almost the same exact thing.
"You People" is a story about two folks from very different worlds who somehow manage to fall in love. And then, after they set apart some time to grow that love, have to endure the painful attempt at merging some tiny pieces of their worlds, primarily, their parents.
Hill plays an accountant named Ezra who dreams of going full-time with a culture podcast he hosts alongside his best friend, Mo (Sam Jay). One day, while trying to get into what he believes to be an Uber, Ezra mistakenly climbs into the vehicle of Amira (Lauren London).
Although they initially freak each other out with the experience, the two somehow manage to recover and go on one date. I'd wager you can probably figure out what happens next. The two continue to see each other, and we're given a montage of them going to the museum and eating at restaurants. It turns out, they're actually a cute couple. Hill and London have an adorable, yet realistic, against-all-odds chemistry they share throughout this entire movie.
Nothing about their relationship is a fairy tale or taken for granted. They fight and have disagreements as every couple does. But the difference is, most of their disagreements come as a result of the different backgrounds they have and the stress their families put on them.
And let me tell you, those families come with plenty of stressors. Ezra was raised Jewish. His mother, Shelley (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and father, Arnold (David Duchovny), are a bit more attached to their religious traditions than Ezra is.
Meanwhile, Amira's father, Akbar (Murphy), and mother, Fatima (Nia Long), are dedicated Muslims.
From the start, these families seem determined to make the primary relationship in this movie fail. Akbar sets his sights on proving Ezra isn't good enough for his daughter, seeking to test him in every way imaginable. And, to his detriment, Ezra's not great at confrontation. He tends to spew awkward dialogue when it's clear he's uncomfortable. Combine that with the fact he feels the need to impress his soon-to-be father-in-law, and wowee did he make me cringe.
But if I thought Ezra's lines would end up being the most offensive, I had another think coming. Because Ezra's mother, Shelley, is painfully white and extra. The way she treats Amira with this thin veil of niceties, all the while being abhorrently tone-deaf and unbelievably offensive, it's clear Ezra's new fiance is going to endure a lot.
In a way, that's where the film's best performances come from, though. While Hill and London are clearly the main characters, it's Murphy and Louis-Dreyfus who end up bringing the most energy to their roles.
Murphy fully leans into his character's mission of making Ezra's life hell, while Louis-Dreyfus entirely commits to being the most offensive suburban white woman she can possibly be. They play their characters with a surefire match that can only come from the years of experience both actors carry. Fun fact, they're almost the exact same age.
I'm convinced Murphy delivered the funniest lines in the film, while Louis-Dreyfus gave the most cringe-worthy dialogue. They are a perfect pair of opposites, two sides of a seesaw that perfectly represent the edge of a knife on which this approaching marriage dances. They're both really good at what they do in this movie.
Director Kenya Barris helmed a wildly funny romcom that has its roots buried in racial tension. There's commentary front and center in this movie, which I won't do a disservice by attempting to define. All I can do is label it "real," show it respect, and tell y'all to trust me. It's good.
"You People" carries a runtime of nearly two hours, and I think the story would have benefited from a little tighter trimming. One or two scenes do seem to run long, especially the cocaine bit in Vegas. But the laughs more than make up for that.