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Average but sweet romcom that succeeds largely due to its support cast and the chemistry between its likeable leads.

Sanaa Lathan (think "the Black Meg Ryan") plays 'Sidney'. (Why do scriptwriters think Sidney is a good female name?) She’s a hip-hop journalist writing a book called something like "How I Fell In Love With Hip-Hop", meaning we get passages from it occasionally, in which we realise that when she says 'Hip-Hop' she actually means the male lead. (This ‘hip-hop = True Love’ theme is continued throughout the film and, frankly, gets rather tedious.)

That Ho Is Mine

Said male lead is her childhood best friend 'Dre' (the marginally more famous Taye Diggs). He's a hip-hop record producer only he's recently started selling out by producing records by awful Eminem wannabes The Dalmation Bruvaz (Sample track and funniest gag in the film: "That ho is miiiiiiiine").

Also, in true romcom fashion, just as Sidney finally realises she lurves Dre, he announces his engagement to Nicole Ari Parker. D'oh!

Brown Sugar is a slow-moving old-fashioned romcom in many respects (though it unfortunately requires both protagonists to dump their current partners in Wedding Planner / Serendipity style) but it works thanks to several things: the chemistry of the two leads, several excellent one-liners, and the superb support cast, including Mos Def and Queen Latifah, who steals every scene she’s in and, unfortunately, isn’t in it enough.