A twist on a romance, The Weekend sets up a puzzle and adds each peace in this long winded film that really doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. It’s about decisions good and bad, sensual and cold, torrid and unimaginable, yet the delirious head spinner does entertain for the right audience.
Zadie Barber (Sasheer Zamata) is a standup comedian and one that’s liked a lot by the bar crowd. She does have hang-ups and one of them is about to deliver a blow she’s not expecting. You see her ex-college roommate Bradford Collins (Tone Bell) and former squeeze is bringing her to her mother’s guest house along with Karen (Kym Whitley) the woman he loves for a long weekend.
Now you may think that this is quite screwed up, and you would be right. As I see it Brad still thinks of Zadie’s mom Margo Johnson (DeWanda Wise) as a close motherly friend. With his mind on proposing to Karen, it’s going to be quite a challenge for Zadie who still has the hots for Brad. Got the idea?
Well the complications start immediately and continue throughout this romantic comedy with a lot of sexual torment that includes an unexpected guest Aubrey (Y’lan Noel) who’s a hunk and competition for Brad. Director Stella Meghie does an okay job with the film up to the point the story gets a bit out of hand. After doing a great job of introducing her characters and especially the contemptuous Zadie, she sets up her audience with a situation that seems highly unlikely. But, all that aside this is a work of fiction and why not throw the four people in a pot an stir up a lot of trouble?
With the star power of Sasheer Zamata, “Saturday Night Live”, she’s already a one woman show with her dry wit. Unfortunately it overpowers the other actors drawing the attention more to her actions and leaving the others out in the cold. For example, the playing field between Zadie and Brad never gets leveled to allow for any real jealousy that Aubrey could offer to the plot. The whole film plays out like one of her comedic dialogues and thus predictable.
The Weekend has been rated R for some language. It also contains sexual innuendos, sexual situations.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A good film for fans of angst romance. (3 out of 5 Stars)
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Sasheer Zamata, Tone Bell, DeWanda Wise,Kym Whitley, Y’lan Noel, Josefina Landeros,
Directed and written by: Stella Meghie
Genre: Romantic Comedy
MPAA Rating: R for some language. Also contains sexual innuendos, sexual situations and language
Running Time: 1 hr. 26 min.
Opening Date: September 13, 2019
Distributed by: Lionsgate
Released in: Select Theaters, VOD
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
