Review of Southside with You (2016) by Matt C — 13 Nov 2016

Barack and Michelle Obama are pretty much the most adorable famous couple that I can think of. They're more enjoyable to read about or see than Brangelina (that is, before Brangelina broke up), so a movie about their first date following the formula set by the Before trilogy seems like a winner by debut.

Alas, Southside with You is the quintessential I-so-wanted-to-like-this-but-it-just-isn't-good type of movie. Richard Tanne has a good eye as a director at times, but his script and overall filmmaking is so cloyingly sentimental and awkward that it overrides the actors' chemistry and necessarily, relevant themes that this movie has to deal with.

The movie really is simply a retelling of the Obamas' first date back in the summer of 1989 when they worked at the same law firm, Barack (played by Parker Sawyers) had a crush of Michelle (played by Tika Sumpter), and Michelle's last name was still Robinson.

They go to an Afro-Centric exhibit at a museum, walk around in a park, see Do the Right Thing at the Music Box in Lakeview, Chicago, and talk a whole lot about their experiences growing up black in America as well as how their upbringings shaped them as people.

It seems like this would work better than it ultimately does. What does work is largely simplistic, and that isn't necessarily a bad thing. The movie is clearly influenced by Before Sunrise and its successors, being focused on dialogue and interaction and taking place over one day.

It has a sense of time and place with music of the time spliced in here and there without being too much and Tanne does a pretty solid job at illustrating the parts of Chicago displayed here. Sawyers is laid back and generally captures the chilled out but determined spirit that people love Barack Obama for and the film doesn't make the mistake of deifying him, which makes him more interesting to watch.

It's also nice to see a movie discussing what it's like for black individuals to grow up in America, although this sometimes feels both undercooked and too blatant. That issue is the main problem with Southside with You overall.

Despite Tanne's occasional good choices as a director, he relies on obvious and manipulative music cues and his script is almost cringeworthy at times. It's so in-your-face in terms of dialogue and feels stilted as a result.

Characters' explanations of their histories feel more like they're reading biographies about themselves instead of organic conversation. The movie also feels more like a collection of scenes than a progression given that it lacks drama or romantic suspense, coasting on the likability of the real-life couple.

What was the most distracting, though, was Sumpter's vocal performance. She's fine in terms of her physical and emotional acting, but the way that she speaks makes it clear that she's trying so hard to replicate Michelle Obama's inflection and tone.

It's distracting from the beginning and doesn't get much better. While Sawyers is playing Barack, Sumpters is impersonating Michelle. Overall, Southside with You with a completely harmless movie, and that has to do with why it isn't effective.

It's cute at times, sure, but it's also so vanilla. The dialogue feels forced when it isn't decent and Tanne's direction makes it feel like something you'd see on Lifetime instead of in a theater.

It's nice that there's a movie about the blossoming relationship of one of the 21st century's most influential couples, but surely it can be done better than this. 4.5/10, lame, C-, below average, etc.