Starring: Tessa Thompson, Tyler James Williams, Kyle Gallner, Brandon P Bell, Teyonah Parris, Brittany Curran, Justin Dobies, Marque Richardson, Dennis Haysbert
Directed By: Justin Simien

Dear White People definitely would have worked as a shorter film. It is definitely an intelligent film, and it has some really strong merits. It goes from “fantastic” to “alright” when stretched out for at least 15 minutes longer than it should have been. It drags in the midsection, brought back to life by a third act that seems so incredibly unreal that it isn’t until the credits roll that you realize that it actually had some basis in fact.

Dear White People revolves around a core ensemble, and a sub-core ensemble. In the core ensemble, you have Sam (Thompson), an angry mixed-race chick who runs a radio talk show called Dear White People, and aspires to be a groundbreaking filmmaker, but might be too busy getting people riled up on campus. Lionel (Williams) hates his current room assignment, doesn’t feel very black, and feels somewhat left out as a gay student. He does aspire to be a writer, but worries he might only be getting offers because his white editor needs a black viewpoint. Troy (Bell) aspires to greatness. His father (Haysbert) is the Dean of Students, after all. And he’s dating a white girl (Curran). And finally, Coco (Parris) is trying really hard to be relevant so she can get cast on a reality TV show.

In the sub-core cast, Kurt (Gallner) likes attention, likes to stir up trouble, and thinks Sam is full of crap. His dad also runs the University. Gabe (Dobies) sees through Sam’s bullshit, and wants to date her anyway. Reggie (Richardson) embraces Sam’s bullshit, and might want to date her anyway. And there’s also the aforementioned characters played by Curran and Haysbert. This ensemble really makes up the core group of Dear White People.

Some interesting points are raised, but when stretched out for too long, you find yourself waiting for the next good punchline. As good as Tessa Thompson is, she shouldn’t be expected to single-handedly keep this film alive. The film also suffers, at times, from a distracting score. I found myself (more than a few times) hating the music playing in the background in various sequences. Sometimes it was extremely odd and off putting, or it just seemed really cheap.

Like it’s main character Sam, Dear White People does have some interesting things to say, but it isn’t quite sure how to say them. There’s a promising filmmaker in Justin Simien, as this was a decent debut film for him. I look forward to seeing more of him in the future, and also Tessa Thompson.

FINAL GRADE: B