Brandi R. Love
"Black Coffee" provided a distinction between the average "Boy meets Girl" love stories. An all- star cast graced the silver screen and held credence to the saying "When one door closes another one opens". Darrin Dewitt Henson (Robert) plays a man who has reached a crossroads when faced with several adversities in his life. Veteran actor Christian Keyes (whom I'm sure ladies wouldn't mind him pouring a cup of coffee), plays Julian, Robert's cousin who pushes the envelope for him to become a successful entrepreneur. Brely Evans was delightful as , Nicole, Julian's regular customer and prospective love interest, Richard Gallion was charming and witty as Duke, the owner of the cozy neighborhood bookstore where Robert frequents. Gabrielle Dennis (Robert's love interest) and Lamman Rucker(Hillman) both have their destinies altered and find that "Black Love Matters". This movie has officially converted me from a "hopeless'' romantic into a "hopeful romantic"...or at least that's what my therapist said!
B John
I rated this movie based on entertainment and the message it conveyed. Me and my wife watched the movie and enjoyed it. It was hard for the first 20 or so minutes due to the dialogue and scenes. Movies I can't relate to are hard for me to watch. But the message was clear to me what the writer wanted to bring to the audience. With that being said, this movie is for everyone. Also there is a scene at the bookstore where they had the book 'The Law of Attraction' in the background positioned purposely for the audience to see (knowledge rule of thirds).Knowing a little about film I can understand the critics in regards to the flow of the movie and lack of continuity. But I feel that is due to watching the film rather than watching the film so to say. This is a common habit of those who study all aspects of art of film.All in all 8 out of 10! A must watch for everyone. It demonstrates what we need more of, positive black films.
DarylKMiddlebrook
Just caught the movie Black Coffee on BET tonight. I wasn't familiar with the director (Mark Harris) nor the two lead actors, and I have to admit my expectations were not high, as a matter of fact, the only thing I was expecting was to be changing the channel after about fifteen minutes. Well, let me just say, that as the final credits rolled by, I found myself having been pleasantly entertained. First, let me give you a synopsis of the film; Robert (the charming Darrin Dewitt Henson) is having a bad day. First he gets fired from the company his father started, by Nate (Josh Ventura), the man he brought in to resurrect the business. The cloudy day continues when Robert arrives at home only to find his gorgeous but vapid girlfriend of two years Mita (Erica Hubbard of BET's Let's Stay Together) is leaving him for another man. Robert's luck doesn't get any better when he later finds out that the man Mita is leaving him for, is none other than Nate. At his lowest ebb, no job, no woman, betrayed, Robert has a quick encounter with a beautiful woman named Morgan (the enticing Gabrielle Dennis) at his local bookstore. With a little push from his hustler cousin Julian (Christian Keyes), Robert arranges to meet Morgan, and after some initial hesitation, Morgan soon finds herself as attracted to Robert as he is to her.From this point, the film turns into a romantic comedy with Robert and Morgan going through the usual motions of falling in love, with several potholes in the road as expected. Where this movie falls short is in its ability to build up emotional conflict and drama. For example, one of those potholes the couple encounters is Morgan's ex- husband Hill (the versatile Lamman Rucker) who, unable to keep his wife from leaving, refuses to release a million dollar property to her unless she keeps away from other men. This, and Mita's attempt to come back into Robert's life should have provided ample conflict, but unfortunately, become merely a soft sub-plot. Now please understand me, I was not looking for Tyler Perry crack mama, sadistic husband, drag queen crazy aunts, type drama. What this film lacked were the stair steps that make us invest in the characters, and reveal how deep or shallow their love is.That being said, where Black Coffee does work is in its funny, witty dialog, charismatic, lovable characters, and an attractive cast, that makes this movie a pleasure to watch. Henson as Robert shows great chops as a leading man, and if this performance is any indication, he should be showing up in more films. Keyes as hustling, wise- cracking Julian steals the scenes he is in and Hubbard's Mita takes a role which could have been annoying but adds just the amount of sass to make her believable. The star of the movie for me is Dennis, who blends a mixture of sophistication and sexiness to her role that rivals any of the A-List girls such as Halle Berry or Kerry Washington.Director Mark Harris pulls everything together smoothly; reining in his actors so that there is no Perry-ish moments of over-acting, and allowing the movie to glide along at a steady, if not spectacular pace. Adam Lee's cinematography is as smooth and mellow as Harris' direction, allowing the actor's charm and attractiveness to be the film's finest special effect. While you're not going to be taken on the head-spinning roller coaster ride of most of today's romantic-comedies, just like Black Coffee, the film will stimulate and satisfy.
glinvision
This movie has been all over Facebook and Instagram, so I had to check it out and I must say that it was very nice to go to a movie about love without any wild sexual language and overtones. I read that i could take my children and so I took my daughter and she loved it! A nice way to a love story without the drama all. The characters were nice, positive people and I enjoyed them all, though I loved to hate the ex husbands character. I also happen to be a business owner and I thought it was nice to hear inspiring things about business and things like that. Great movie and other than one or two parts, I have nothing but great things to say about it. I hope my sisters in Texas get to see it too, i heard it was only in 4 cities.
