Black Coffee movie review & film summary (2014)
Morgan and Robert begin a tentative romance, where all they do is talk about what a "real man" is like, and what a "real woman" needs. They discuss the meaning of the word "soul mate" with no irony. Morgan asks Robert if he is "a man of God", clearly important to her, and she tells him that she thinks woman's real role is to be her man's "helpmeet". Never mind that she has the gumption and smarts and bravery to go to law school, work as an attorney in a cutthroat business, and then actually set up shop for herself. All of that doesn't hold a candle to being a "helpmeet", apparently. Naturally, though, her words inspire Robert to start thinking about opening up his own painting business, so that he can be the "real man" that she needs him to be, so that she can "help" him. It gives their romantic scenes a whiff of pity from her side that is not sexy at all.
The plot gets extremely convoluted, involving Morgan's ex-husband Hill (Lamman Rucker), whose behavior borders on stalker harassment, and yet then we are supposed to feel happy that he finds love, too, the big lug. The film gives Hill and his new love a long slo-mo montage of the two of them frolicking on a swing set in the golden sunset light, all as a sappy love song plays, the whole song! Hill has been shown to be a bully and a control freak, who treats Morgan as his property even though they are divorced, and nothing has been set up properly for that montage to have any emotional resonance. I'm supposed to feel happy that a veritable villain enjoys swinging on the swings and laughing in slo-mo?
The agenda here, outside of the positive idea that African-Americans need to be employers not employees, is a confused one and seems to be: Men need to be strong and take charge or women will not love them. But men also need to be vulnerable enough to work to better themselves so that their woman can have the glorious Godly opportunity to be a "helpmeet" to them. Mita is set up as a reprehensible character, a sneering gold-digging nightmare, and yet when a man finally bosses her around, she melts like ice cream on a summer day. Charming. Robert, under Morgan's supportive influence, starts reading books on business-ownership, all as she looks on with loving (and somewhat pitying) eyes. (Gabrielle Dennis, as I mentioned, is a smart actress who seems to operate from a truthful place, and she can't keep that truth out of her performance.)
"Black Coffee" means well. It has some interesting and exciting ideas, and a couple of funny lines (Morgan says to Robert, "How do I know you're not a serial killer?" Robert replies, "Because I'm black.") It features one good performance from Dennis, who struggles to show us a real woman doing her best to live up to her expectations for herself and accept love into her life again. But Dennis can't save the whole thing. It's too big of a mess.
