LOVE, BROOKLYN is a gentle earnest romantic dramedy with a side order of social commentary about gentrification. The positives: the film contains three great central performances, and some lovely lensing of a pandemic-emptied Brooklyn from DP Martim Vian. The negatives: the film moves way too slowly, and its insights are way too trite, for it to be either memorable or engaging.
LOVE, BROOKLYN is the debut feature from director Rachael Holder and screenwriter Paul Zimmerman, and maybe that shows in its pacing. Or maybe it was a choice. But my word, for a 97 minute film I really was looking at my watch and wondering why we had not progressed.
The film stars Andre Holland (MOONLIGHT) as Roger - a likeable thirtysomethibng journo who spends his time cycling around his beloved Brooklyn lamenting its evolution and wrestling with whether he is still in love with his ex- or ready to take on a deeper commitment with the single mum he had a one night stand with. The ex is played by Nicole Beharie, currently on screen in Apple TV's The Morning Show. She is fantastic as art gallerist Casey - all wit and vitality and zip. Holland and Beharie have such on-screen chemistry we wonder why they broke up in the first place. And then we have DeWanda Wise as the more mature, centred and calm single mother Nicole, and I loved the scenes with her precocious young daughter Ally. Nicole gently coaxes Roger into having more interaction with Ally and gives him the confidence to see a future together. All three are good earnest people trying to live a good life. There's no actual dramatic tension. There is, however, some lovely gentle comedy provided by The Daily Show's Roy Wood Jr., as Alan, Roger's best friend.
There's some trite stuff at the end tying in the need to move forward, both in relationships to people and our urban homes. The film washed over me like a warm breeze. Inconsequential and forgettable but not entirely unpleasant.
LOVE, BROOKLYN has a running time of 97 minutes. It was released in the USA in September.
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