Something New

Something New is a 2006 American romantic comedy drama film directed by Sanaa Hamri. The screenplay by Kriss Turner focuses on interracial relationships and traditional African American family values and social customs. Plot Kenya McQueen is a successful, single African-American woman who has sacrificed romance in order to pursue a career as a certified public accountant. Her rigid desire for perfection and control has manifested itself in the bland, monochromatic decor of her new home and the rigid rules she follows in her personal life. Urged to loosen up by her friends, Kenya accepts a blind date with landscape architect Brian Kelly arranged by her co-worker Leah Cahan, who is in the process of planning the kind of wedding Kenya wants herself. The two meet at Starbucks, and she is surprised to discover Brian is white. She quickly excuses herself and leaves. The two unexpectedly meet again at a party at Leah's parents' home, where Brian landscaped the grounds. Impressed with his work, Kenya decides to hire him to renovate her unkempt backyard garden. As time passes, their employer-employee relationship evolves into a friendship and then love. Although Brian is helping her feel more comfortable about her living environment, Kenya finds it difficult to dismiss her reservations about their romance. The opinions of her girlfriends Cheryl, Nedra, and Suzette, her upper class parents Joyce and Edmond, and her womanizing younger brother Nelson begin to have a deleterious effect and Brian's unwillingness to discuss issues of color drives them apart.