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Taye Diggs, Sanaa Lathan, Mos Def, Nicole Ari Parker, Boris Kodjoe ... see more see more... , Queen Latifah , Erik Weiner , Reggi Wyns , Wendell Pierce , Ralph E. Tresvant

A woman wonders if it's just friendship or real love she feels when a close male friend announces he's tying the knot in this romantic comedy. Dre (Taye Diggs) and Sidney (Sanaa Lathan) became best fr... read more read more...iends when they were ten years old -- the same time that both first became aware of the first rumblings of the Hip Hop revolution in New York City. Today, Dre runs a successful record label, and Sidney is a respected music journalist; both have managed to turn their love for the music into careers, and both are still close friends. Close enough, in fact, that many of their pals wonder why they've never become boyfriend and girlfriend. While both have always denied their attraction to one another, Sidney begins to have second thoughts when Dre proposes to his girlfriend Reese (Nicole Ari Parker), a lawyer. Even though Sidney has a relationship of her own with professional basketball player Kelby (Boris Kodjoe), as Dre's wedding draws closer, Sidney begins to suspect that her longtime best friend is actually the love of her life. Brown Sugar features supporting performances form real life Hip Hop stars Mos Def and Queen Latifah; former basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson served as executive producer. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

87% liked it

54,620 ratings

Critics

65% liked it

85 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 49 min.

Directed by: Rick Famuyiwa

Release Date: October 11, 2002

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DVD Release Date: February 11, 2003

Stats: 2,961 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (2,961)

  • poohtiger
    July 19, 2009
    poohtiger
    Somehow I had never seen this movie before last night and I couldn't believed that I hadn't. It's a very good romantic comedy/drama that will remind you a little of When Harry Met Sally. There is even a scene where Taye Diggs character (Dre) spouts off on the different types of w... read moreomen and which ones are just to date and which ones are to marry, that scene echoes Billy Crystal's similar scene in Harry met Sally. Anyway this film main storyline has childhood friends Dre and Sidney (the gorgeous Sanaa Lathan) flirting around the issue of whether to just remain friends or become something closer. The point becomes moot when Dre ends up marrying hot to trot Reese (played by Nicole Ari Parker, who for once plays the bad girl instead of the usual saint). But Dre and Sidney still are such close friends that he spends more time with her than his own wife which leads to some friction. This being a romantic comedy, you know things will eventually turn out for the better, but getting there is what makes this movie works. A talented cast works wonders including Diggs and Lathan but also Queen Latifah as Sidney's cousin; Mos Def as a singer trying to break into the business, who is helped by Dre; and Parker. But the standout is Sanaa Lathan as Sidney. She manages to make her character seem very real, showing every emotion possible for happiness to sadness and all in between. When she is onscreen, the camera definitely loves her and so will audiences. Did I mention she was drop dead gorgeous. There are only a handful of women or men for that matter that can hold your attention with their acting ability and looks at the same time. I would put Ms Lathan up there with the legendary Elizabeth Taylor in her prime. So I highly recommend this movie, great for couples, great for romance lovers, great for film lovers in general.
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    Dre: It's when you talk like that, that's what makes me think that you're jealous.
    Sidney 'Syd' Shaw: What?
    Dre: Yes. Jealous!
    Sidney 'Syd' Shaw: [throws a cookie on the table] No wonder you two are married, you're both crazy! Look here, contrary to what you and your wife may think, I don't spend my nights thinkin' about you, okay?
    Dre: Shh! Lower the voice.
    Sidney 'Syd' Shaw: I got a man who's fine, intelligent, successful, and gives it to me on a very, very regular basis and the s**t is the bomb!
    Dre: So! I don't care what -
    Sidney 'Syd' Shaw: Dre I need you to be happy for me. I need you to be there for me, just like you asked of me. So - so I can have tea and eat cucumber sandwiches with the crust cut off!
  • ileo
    April 12, 2007
    ileo
    A great movie!
  • mborshuk
    November 30, 2011
    mborshuk
    Enjoyable for the hip-hop context, even though the love story devolves into pretty predictable melodrama in the second half. Chock full of great cameos from actual hip-hop stars, ranging from Mos Def in a big role, to Talib Kweili, De La Soul, Russell Simmons, and others.
  • brandankurtis
    January 3, 2011
    brandankurtis
    They're both approaching 30 and have found success in their different but equally demanding careers. He's a hip-hop producer/exec, and she's a magazine editor for XXL. Their relationship is defined by their mutual love of hip-hop, and for each other. His name is Dre (Taye Diggs) ... read moreand her name Sidney (Sanaa Lathan).

    It was three years ago that I fell in love with H.E.R. (a girl named Katie) and offered her "Brown Sugar" as a Valentine's Day gift and for her birthday (which was two weeks later). For most who fell in love with H.E.R., hip-hop started back in the '70s with DJ Kool Herc driving around the Bronx flatlands blaring the sound of a new era on his speakers. For me, I fell in love with H.E.R., hip-hop, the first time I heard "Walk This Way" by Run-D.M.C. and Aerosmith, which was recorded in 1986.

    Director Rick Famuyiwa has a passion for the music, and it seems to have culminated with "Brown Sugar," a film that some have called an urban version of "When Harry Met Sally" with a hip-hop beat. Sidney begins nearly every interview with the same question: How did you fall in love with hip-hop? For her, it was July 18, 1984, when she discovered a music genre with break dancing, DJing, emceeing, and graffiti tagging - the four elements of hip-hop.

    It's the passion for the rhythm and the beat that brought Sidney and Dre together as children. Early in their time in college, they both considered giving it a go at romance, but Sidney decided it wouldn't be right. Her close friend Francine (Queen Latifah) warns she's turning into a Terry McMillian character. Now, as adults with careers and goals, their romance lives have taken radically different courses. Dre has become engaged to Reese (Nicole Ari Parker), who is beautiful and not some monster as movies like this would require. There is a sense of sincerity in a scene where she and Sidney confront one another about Dre.

    Dre, meanwhile, who works for Millennium Records, has been assigned by his boss (Wendell Pierce), who wants MTV rotation, to produce a pair of jokesters named Ren and Ten and who call themselves the "Hip-Hop Dalmations" - "they represent that whole unity (that's 'u.n.i.t.y.') thing." Dre quits Millennium after this fiasco and decides to start his own label by first signing Chris Shawn (Mos Def), who he believes is a real artist. Dre and Sidney both realize they have to keep their feelings for one another on the down-low, especially since she is now involved with professional ballplayer Kelby Dawson (Boris Kodjoe).

    "Brown Sugar" works as a pretty sweet romantic comedy that also doubles as a metaphor for the loss of dignity in hip-hop. Sid and Dre's being in love is paralleled against hip-hop's acceptance into the mainstream, and its loss of any meaningful qualities. They both feel the beat, and the passion since that day in July 1984 when they fell in love with the same thing, and its growth over the years. But despite the over-commercialization of my favorite music genre, one thing is certain:

    I still love H.E.R.
  • fujhay
    April 20, 2009
    fujhay
    I dig the comparisons of once sincere spoken hip hop. evolving or degrading for popularity. and the metafore sweet sweet sinai lathan makes to innocent love.

    genuis intertwing the two.
  • NikDaChic
    April 13, 2009
    NikDaChic
    My best guy friend got me into this movie and said it was about us....without the living happily ever after part. Mainly referring to the true bond of friendship between the two characters. But Now every time he writes or calls he calls me Syd. It really is a cute film, A good sh... read moreowcase how love can just be right in front of your eyes the whole time.
  • mrlawan
    December 28, 2008
    mrlawan
    I saw this on my first movie date with my girlfriend and we're still together, how could i not like it
  • shonshon1b
    September 13, 2008
    shonshon1b
    Another romantic comedy that I enjoyed! I especially loved the performances given by Queen Latifah and Mos Def.
  • mangosrok
    September 7, 2008
    mangosrok
    OMG i freakin love this movie it is soooo much lyke the other movie she did love and basketball which is another one of my favorites
  • BlackPrince64
    July 8, 2008
    BlackPrince64
    I SIMPLY LOVE THE REMEMBERANCE OF THE DAYS OF REAL HIP HOP AND HOW IT INFLUENCED THE HEART, NOT THE MIND.

View All Brown Sugar Reviews

Critic Reviews

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
October 26, 2002
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It's predictable, but it jumps through the expected hoops with style and even some depth. Full Review

Joe Baltake
October 25, 2002
Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee

A lot more dimensional and complex than its sunny disposition would lead you to believe. Full Review

Ann Hornaday
October 11, 2002
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

You don't have to know about music to appreciate the film's easygoing blend of comedy and romance. Full Review

Peter Howell
October 11, 2002
Peter Howell, Toronto Star

Makes the sweet case that sincerity strikes the biggest romantic sparks. Full Review

Carla Meyer
October 11, 2002
Carla Meyer, San Francisco Chronicle

Takes every convention of the romantic comedy genre and turns it on its ear. Full Review

Gene Seymour
October 11, 2002
Gene Seymour, Newsday

The movie plays cute more than smart, but it's far from dumb -- and marks yet another baby step forward in the growing sophistication of African-American film. Full Review

Susan Stark
October 11, 2002
Susan Stark, Detroit News

The movie's attention to cultural context really does separate it from anything that came before, including the winning, but finally irrelevant, When Harry Met Sally...

Wesley Morris
October 11, 2002
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe

Too much about Brown Sugar is carried out with utmost decorum, as if writer-director Rick Famuyiwa were bringing hip-hop home to meet the parents. Full Review

Liam Lacey
October 11, 2002
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

Bland if amiable. Full Review

Jonathan Foreman
October 11, 2002
Jonathan Foreman, New York Post

There's something unintentionally comic in the film's drumbeat about authenticity, given the stale plot and pornographic way the film revels in swank apartments, clothes and parties.

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