Two Can Play That Game

[00:00:01] Welcome to the No More Late Fees podcast. I'm Danielle. And I'm Jackie. And we're just two best friends and ex-Blockbuster employees rewatching some of the best and worst movies from the late 90s and early 2000s.

[00:00:25] This week we are talking about the 2001 romantic comedy Two Can Play That Game with our guest Bria. Welcome back, Bria. Hello, it's nice to be back. Like in many ways.

[00:00:42] So if you want to get to know Bria a little better, pause, check out their trailer and come on back. But before we dive in, let's get into some housekeeping. That was not... I never know.

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[00:01:24] We do have a review this week. Fun podcast. I know, I'm so excited. Fun podcast while I walk the dogs. Five stars. Yay!

[00:01:35] If you're looking for a fun, entertaining listen, this is your podcast. Being Gen X, I love the movies they discuss. And despite there being a lot of humor, and there is a lot, they really give thoughtful and knowledgeable critiques from Eric Rettin via Apple Podcasts. Thanks, Eric.

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[00:02:18] Let's dive in. Jaggi, tell us about, so you can play that game. I talked to someone today and they said they never heard of the movie, never saw it. Are they black? Yes. But they're not into rom-coms.

[00:02:36] So before I have the summary that is presented before me, I was on IMDb like you do while you're watching a movie. And I sent Danielle a screen cap of one of the summaries on IMDb along with this note. A man wrote this summary.

[00:02:55] So this is the one, the first one that comes up on IMDb. An arrogant career woman plays a series of heartless mind games with her boyfriend to put him in line, only to discover that he has a few tricks up his own sleeve.

[00:03:10] I just want to know, and Jaggi's going to get into this, but this movie was written by a man. Yes. Final stop. Yeah. So the movie follows Shantae Smith, a successful advertising exec who discovers her boyfriend Keith is cheating on her.

[00:03:30] Instead of breaking up, Shantae decides to enact a 10-day plan of revenge and manipulation to teach him a lesson and win him back. However, things take an unexpected turn when Keith realizes what's happening and begins to play his own game.

[00:03:47] It stars Vivica E. Fox, Anthony Anderson, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Tamala Jones, Monique, Bobby Brown, Gabrielle Union, and Morris Chestnut. It was directed and written by Mark Brown, and you can currently watch it on Prime. But before we start, let's get into our ratings re-

[00:04:07] Let's get into our ratings rewind. So you know the drill. Before we get into the movie, we'll reveal the rating our Y2K versions of ourselves would give. Then at the end, we'll see if our current selves agree with our initial rating.

[00:04:21] Our scale consists of would buy it, would buy it again. The best, would play on repeat. Five-day rental. Would watch again. Two-day rental. Okay, but nothing to write home about. And same-day rental. Trash. Straight up trash.

[00:04:41] Alright, Bria, we'll start with you. What is your Y2K rating of this movie? Probably would buy it, would buy it again. Jackie? I have never seen this movie. And I would say would buy it because I own it.

[00:05:01] Not gonna even lie. I just alphabetized all my movies again, so I'm aware that I have that one. Alright, so this movie had a budget of $13 million.

[00:05:16] Now at the time, it is important to understand that the Sony-owned Screen Gems at this time was starting to like make a ton of black movies. So I think between Screen Gems and Lionsgate, they were really the ones making a lot of the black movies at this time.

[00:05:36] Probably New Line Cinema. And New Line, yeah. If you see New Line, you know it's a black movie. I think of Friday when it was even.

[00:05:47] Because before this movie, they had done The Brothers, which also starred Morris Chestnut and Gabrielle Union. So they had just came off that movie. And isn't Tamala in that too? Yeah, she is. You're right. Tamala is also in The Brothers. I mean Brothers.

[00:06:05] The budget was $13 million and it made $22.39 million. So it was a success, it was a hit for them, surprisingly. It opened at number two at the box office, raking in about $7 million, over $7 million in its opening weekend behind The Musketeer.

[00:06:23] Which I think is funny because I feel like this movie has more legs than The Musketeer does. You don't even know what that movie is? Exactly. The film was released in the UK on September 13, 2002 and it failed to reach the top 10. Not surprised it's the UK.

[00:06:43] That's all I'm going to say. I remember when this movie came out because I was in college. A lot of these movies came out when I was in college and then they just were a breeding ground of conversation.

[00:07:00] When I saw this movie, I thought, because I was very green when it came to dating, I was like, oh, this is it. Shante's telling us what we need to do. You were taking notes for real. You were like, when did you Raquel Robinson's character?

[00:07:20] Yes, it's my girlfriend's cafe notes. All the things. It's so not the route. I wasn't bold enough to be doing half of the stuff that she talks about and I'm too lazy to play so many games. After she got, that was like 10 days. Girl, I'm tired.

[00:07:42] You're doing a lot. I'm not dating at all. It's just like, why even bother with all these shenanigans? I don't have time. What I think is crazy is my mom and my godmother and people who are 20 plus years older than me are still going through this bullshit.

[00:08:13] I'm like, wait a minute. They're telling me stories and I'm like, wait, what you're telling me is that this shit still getting better? These motherfuckers can barely live right now. Aren't they old?

[00:08:26] I mean, the way I hear my mom kind of argue with her boyfriend about the stupidest stuff. You didn't call me back when you said you would. And I'm like, really at your big age, this is what we're mad about? Shouldn't we be grateful we have another day?

[00:08:42] I do have a lot of hope that there, I really do believe that there are men who, they just like you. They just want to be around you. They like you as a person and they show it.

[00:08:57] Like you don't have to do all these crazy jump through hoops things. I believe that now. It took me a long time to get here. I don't know who this bitch is, but she thinks that this is real, that there are decent men still alive.

[00:09:14] Not trying to trick you to take care of them. I think there are for other people, not for me. Well, we'll see how this year turns out. Oh God.

[00:09:29] But the casting director, Robbie Reed named a list of folks who might, they might want to consider for the role of Keith. And Morse Chestnut was at the top of the list. Originally, Vivica Fox had turned down the role of Shantae three times.

[00:09:46] She stated she didn't like the initial script. She said, I didn't like Shantae. She was like, you know, the way that it was written, she was just such a bitch and I didn't like it. And some of the language, I didn't like her relationship with Keith.

[00:10:02] And so I just said, nah, it's not what I want to do. So I know that they rewrote it. She talked a lot with Mark and they got Shantae to a place that she felt was good.

[00:10:14] She also felt like she needed not just Shantae, but all the female friends. Keith, like she wanted Shantae and Keith to be equals and to both be very strong.

[00:10:25] And just for it to make sense, not like they're really playing a tit for tat versus like Shantae is just dragging Keith.

[00:10:36] And also when they were hiring Morse, they needed to make sure that they found someone that could be like, quote unquote, a manly guy and not like kind of wussy.

[00:10:46] Because when she started to start playing the games that he wouldn't like kind of fumble or look weak, I guess. So, yeah, it was interesting. I'm very, very curious as to what the script looked like after, before they made these changes, because it was already a wild ride.

[00:11:08] Yeah, I can't imagine anyone else but Vivica in this role too. Me either. That's how much Shantae, I feel like this is low key, one of, if not her most iconic role that she owns.

[00:11:22] Yeah, sometimes when we do especially Black movies, we don't find a lot of fun facts, but we were able to because they did an interview, I think 10 years after with the entire cast. And I said Buzzfeed, right?

[00:11:40] So they were able to like ask them a bunch of questions. And it's funny, like Gabrielle Union, every single person, even though they've had bigger roles, they say this movie is one of the movies that people know them for.

[00:11:55] And Gabrielle Union was saying, like, it's really funny because I thought at the time when this came out, like, people would have known me for other things. And sometimes like a white kid will come up and they're talking about this movie. She's like, what?

[00:12:10] That would shock me too. I'm like, nah, bring it on. And so yeah, like, I think it's because when you, because you did Love and Basketball with us.

[00:12:24] And when you talk about that and Love Jones, those aren't necessarily like typical rom coms and even The Best Man isn't necessarily a rom com. I would say this is like one of the few rom coms with a Black female protagonist. Is that the right word? Yeah. Protagonist?

[00:12:48] Yeah, that we have. Because I can't really think of one where it's a rom com with the comedy part to it. Deliver Us from Eva. Yes, but yeah, this one came out first. Yeah, it's few and far between for sure. But yeah.

[00:13:08] It's like the only other one I could think of, I think. Yeah, like I, because if you think about the Think Like a Man, like the Paula Patton. Right. And all of those came because of this movie, essentially.

[00:13:24] And also, if you think about it, we had like comedies that had to do with sex comedy. It's essentially like Booty Call. What's the one you had to be a player? We did have Woo.

[00:13:44] And I know a lot of us tried to pretend because it was so, she had great outfits. It was a rom com. But I think this was definitely different. So gotta give Vivica her props for real. Yeah. No, she's definitely deserving of flowers for sure. I do. Yeah.

[00:14:08] No, go ahead. No, I was gonna say I love that Halle Berry when she won her Oscar for Monsters Ball. She, you know, named a list of other Black actresses and she named Vivica. And I thought that was really good. Like, I was like, all right.

[00:14:23] I like that. Has Halle been in a rom com? She's a film ring. But like, Led one. I'm surprised that I feel like she would have came first. She should have. Yeah. No, I don't think so. Not that I can think of. My BAPs.

[00:14:46] Yeah, it's kind of a rom com. Dating. Yeah, that's true. She was in this movie called Bullworth, but I don't even know what to call that one. Yeah. I've never seen that. That's all over the place. An avant-garde comedy. Warren Beatty. That was.

[00:15:06] That's an hard time period, Jackie. So starting off with this movie, it's good to know that one of the two movies that Mark Brown said were like his inspiration. Because this movie breaks the fourth wall a lot. Like, it's giving Zack Morris, it's Ferris Bueller and Alfie.

[00:15:29] So he, she is breaking the fourth wall, talking us through the situation. And she's introducing us to all of the characters in her life. Starting with her wonderfully interesting, charismatic, insane girlfriends. And she starts talking about like why men are constantly acting the fuck up, especially around spring.

[00:15:51] She calls them humping ass dogs. Oh, my God. I love the talking to the camera part. That's like one of my first, that's my first bullet point is like how iconic that is.

[00:16:05] Because it's like all these one liners that Vivica delivers are so like, you know, capturable, gif-able, you know, put it on TikTok or whatever because of that. Yeah. I love that part of that. But yeah, she definitely says some wild stuff.

[00:16:22] She says that this movie is probably the closest out of all her characters, you're going to get to her personality. And like just the way she wanted to bring that sassiness to Shantae and like, you know, she even talks about some of the outfits.

[00:16:40] Like she said she clashed with the costume designer lady about some of the outfits. She said she even paid for that yellow suit that she's wearing. That yellow suit is everything. She paid for it herself.

[00:16:55] She's like, girl, I just got a new American Express and I went and I got it. And her friend told her to get it tailored. She's like, because that suit's not going to do anything for your ass the way that it is.

[00:17:06] I think that dress that she goes to see Keith in is a Versace dress. Like the outfits were outfitting like hell in this movie. Can we talk about the natural booty of the 2000s? Because she's in the elevator and the white guy is like,

[00:17:24] And you're so used to seeing a BBL. But yes, it's so just normal size. Like a nice little handful and that's it. And I think Keith talks or like Anthony Anderson's character is like, and she got a fat ass. And fat asses were a different standard back then.

[00:17:45] And I kind of miss it. You know when he's talking about Gabrielle Union's big boobies. I'm like, okay. Gabrielle Union has never had big boobs ever. She has more of like, you know, like build.

[00:18:00] Yeah, but she's more, I would say more like pear shaped in the sense that like she has more hips and a little bit of a butt. And compared like, it's proportionally to her. Yeah, right, right. So just like we just saying shit. We just saying shit.

[00:18:16] Eminem wrote this movie, remember? Yeah, but is he a gay man? Because I don't understand. I think he just wanted them to say shit. He was like, yeah, okay, we didn't cast someone with a fat ass. Let's roll with it. Okay. But I guess to Hollywood standards.

[00:18:33] Yes, that is what white people might consider fat ass. But in the black community, we're like, yeah, I hate to bring it to this. But that's why JLo got so much hype about her ass at that time. Because to white standards, people were like, oh my God.

[00:18:47] And like, every time as a kid, I heard black women talk about her. They were like, she's not as special. Like, see these wagons in this barbecue? Yes, definitely. I mean, look, she's kept it up in the sense that like gravity,

[00:19:05] she's been working her, literally working her ass off. I will have to say one of the, I think, best kept secrets of the thing that Beyonce has always tried to work really hard at for some reason, especially like in the, I'm talking about 90s, 2000s,

[00:19:20] was hiding how big her butt was. Yeah, that's why she wrote bootylicious. Yeah, but she still was not like, she was always standing to the side. It's not till like more recently now that I think she just like lets it be. Even Janet Jackson.

[00:19:41] Like she's someone when you look at 90s Janet, you don't realize like how big her butt was because of that. Like they did a good job of hiding it or whatever. It wasn't a focal point because it wasn't really an asset, so to speak.

[00:19:57] In the way that it is now where like more than likely people are posing ass first and stuff. But later on, like especially like in her 40s and stuff, when she definitely got way more comfortable like showing off way, way more,

[00:20:13] especially I know she talks about being what Jermaine Dupri really like helped her with that. But like, you know, I feel like a lot of people are like, damn, I didn't know Janet had ass like that. Oh, the hidden asses of the 90s and 2000s.

[00:20:29] That's a good side. Like make some content. And play Nass in the 90s. Just bootylicious. So what else is going on, Danielle? Oh, we do meet. So we do meet Karen, Shantae's friend who is staying with her because her... Bobby Brown, which I did not know.

[00:21:01] I was like he looks oddly familiar. Yeah. Michael. Those teeth at the beginning. The prosthetics were terrible, let's be honest. You know, like I don't think there are many celebrities that hurt my soul as much as... Bobby Brown was such a handsome guy back in the day.

[00:21:27] Bobby Brown was that dude for real. And I don't... I think like the Whitney and him and they don't... Like a lot of people don't get it and they overshadow like y'all don't know. Y'all keep playing in Bobby fucking Brown's face

[00:21:47] and he was that dude for a while there, man. Because I'm in A Thin Line Between Love and Hate. Like I remember watching that as a kid but I also like watched as an adult and I was like Bobby Brown is kind of fun in this movie.

[00:22:05] He was still like, you know, good looking around that time. He hadn't gotten the like weird jaw tick thing he has. But yeah, he was something to behold. He was, it's a tragedy. And now, you know, I see him when new edition

[00:22:23] and he is huffing and puffing on that stage but I gave him props. He is trying. That's all I can say. And he's been through so much and survived a lot. But yeah, he looked still semi-decent in this movie but yes, he had prosthetics

[00:22:39] because the whole idea is that Karen has, she met Michael. He was, oh, he's a mechanic. A mechanic, yeah. So she went to go get her car fixed. She saw the potential. So tip number one, don't find the potential. Do not fix her up, okay?

[00:23:00] Like, because what will happen is he will look in a mirror one day, realize he's looking like hot ass and start acting as such. I'm not gonna lie, dudes who are hotter know that they can get more chicks and act the fuck up.

[00:23:21] It is the facts of the matter right now. So Michael started acting up. Karen was upset because of course Shantae had to step in and say, I'm gonna put you on this 10 day plan to get him in shape because he stopped trying. He stopped talking about marriage.

[00:23:43] He was like not moving forward. But I think the other thing that really hit me while watching this movie is ladies. If you have girlfriends that are giving you relationship advice and are not telling you about their life, their relationship, nothing. You know nothing about their situation. Weird.

[00:24:10] What are you doing? But that was one of her rules at one point. It is one of her rules, but friendship, I'm not saying you have, I do agree that you really shouldn't tell your friends everything, especially when a dude does some fucked up shit

[00:24:26] in a sense that you have gotten in your heart to forgive them. Because me, I'm not forgiving them. I'm remembering and I'm hating you. And that puts you in a rock and a hard place when your friend, especially it's your best friend, I'm sure Jackie knows I'm crazy.

[00:24:47] So don't tell me. Don't do it. That's a hard position to be in. And it's like, you know, you're around these men eventually and in your head you're just like, I know you ain't shit. And the sucky part too is that

[00:25:08] I try to always think even when my friends are telling me like the negative things, like keep in mind and have perspective that I don't know all the amazing stuff and obviously the intimate stuff and the small moments and all those things. When you look at him,

[00:25:23] whatever you feel or whatever initially made you fall in love. So I have to keep that in mind that this person also has a different view of this person than I do. All I'm seeing is like, he said this to you and now he's doing it to you.

[00:25:40] So I also just think like, I know that we are in a modern time and that things have gotten better and things have gotten better when it comes to gender roles per se and even men's ability to understand that women are actual people.

[00:26:03] Because there are a lot of men who really don't even think that we are in service to them. So I think there's been a lot of strides in that, but I also think that so many women in order to be in a relationship

[00:26:16] have made contingencies or have made compromises to be in those relationships. Like they have chosen that, yes, this isn't maybe the most ideal, but I love this person or whatever. I don't know. This is why I'm still single because I have not met that person

[00:26:35] that is making me want to make those contingencies yet to be like, okay, I'm going to overlook this. So I think a lot. Yeah. Shante said something very early on that I was like, relevant. It seems like every woman I know is having man trouble.

[00:26:56] When people ask me why I'm single, I'm like, I know maybe two people who are in happy relationships and that's probably because I don't know that much either. But at the same time, I'm just like, yeah, there's not a lot around me that looks that appealing.

[00:27:14] Everybody's in the trenches in my eyes. So I'm like, I'm good. I don't need that. And like you said, there hasn't been someone that you felt like, I'm willing to look, for me at least, to look stupid for occasionally to take that chance with.

[00:27:34] Well, yeah, that's also the hard thing. You ain't gonna be making me look like boo-boo the full loud in these shows. But yeah, there's a lot. I don't know. But I think that it's true that you should keep some things to yourself. But Shante, with her friendships,

[00:27:54] it's almost like she's purposely friends with people that she can be higher than. Or she's one of those, maybe she's a fixer. You know, she likes troubled, like Lisa Vanderpump. She likes to be amongst the troubled people who she can give her two cents to

[00:28:16] and still feel like, I'm better than kind of in a way. Yeah, that's weird. You need therapy because you should want to be with friends that you are equally yoked with, I guess you could say. Not everyone's gonna be, everyone's gonna be at different places at different times,

[00:28:34] financially, spiritually, in their love relationships. That's fine. But if all of your friends, let's say you want to go on a cruise and none of them can pay for it, it's time to get new friends. Y'all are not in the same place anymore. It's not working.

[00:28:54] I know in my friends groups, it's really important that I surround myself with people that lift you up instead of just like talking shit. We talk shit, but with each other, we're like, no, that looks amazing. And we can be honest, but we're honest in a kind way.

[00:29:16] But when you're having the hard days, those are the friends you want to say, hey, I'm having a really hard day and their response is, it's just a day, you're amazing, tomorrow will be better. Those are the people you want to surround yourself with,

[00:29:31] not just people who have issues and just are constantly complaining about their lives. Yes, or it's only about them and they never ask about you. A big thing I learned this year, and I think your 30s, which another thing that's crazy is she's 28 in this movie?

[00:29:50] I was like, wait a minute. Where? He played in my face. I know black don't crack, but we know that you weren't no damn 28 in this movie. That's like when I rewatched Waiting to Exhale for New Year's and I was like, Whitney's supposed to be like 33, 34. What?

[00:30:12] But a big thing I've learned now that I'm in my 30s now is recently is like you said to build off of that, Jackie, is having those friends that hold you accountable too. You can have hard conversations with and they can tell you, no, actually I don't think

[00:30:31] you're right or I don't think this is the best choice for you. And having that understanding and having those conversations of like I need you when you see something, you say something kind of thing. Because I think a lot of friends and friendships fall apart

[00:30:53] because we're afraid to hurt each other's feelings. And so you start holding stuff back because you're like, I can't tell her that or I can't say this to her. And I think I finally have grasped that. Oh, no one can read my mind. You want people to know

[00:31:13] why you're upset, but also at the same time other people got other shit going on. So it's like, no, I don't know why you're upset. Please enlighten me. But yeah, to have those friends that you can definitely, you know, pour into and then when the time is needed,

[00:31:31] they can pour back into you, whether that's negative, positive or, you know, just like, hey, we both in the trenches together. And Shantay, I don't think that kind of friend. She's like, oh girl, that sucks for you. There's a scene that if we skip ahead a little bit,

[00:31:49] there's a scene when all the girls go shopping. And so I don't think I noticed probably the first few times I ever saw this movie back then. But, you know, Monique being a plus size woman and that like her friends are almost like making fun of her

[00:32:06] while she's shopping. They're not taking and she calls them out like she jokes about stuff, but it's almost like they are looking down at her, you know, so you have you have Karen who has like hero worship about Shantay then you have

[00:32:25] let me make sure I get her name right. Then you have Deidre who kind of looks like she she's cool with Shantay, but like are they frenemies? Because also there are moments where she's like you're full of shit. But I don't even know if it's frenemies.

[00:32:42] I think Deidre is probably a better friend than Shantay is because she's keeping it a book. Yeah, like she's keeping it real with her. And then Tracy's kind of like in the middle. And I mean, we do we eventually get to meet. So we met Karen's situation.

[00:32:58] We meet Tracy. Shantay goes over to go pick up Tracy and Tracy is at her boyfriend's house and she has now decided she knows that he's got a roaming eye. He's a cheater. And so she does a trick where she takes a pair of underwear

[00:33:16] and Shantay says the key is that you have to get a pair that cannot fit you. They're either too big or too small and hide them somewhere in the house and then say that you found them. If he's already cheating he probably don't even remember if. Yeah.

[00:33:32] You know, Shantay also says that if you are going to be cheating go to the other woman's house or if you're cheating go to your girl's house so that she's not fucking up your shit because Tracy goes to him and starts breaking stuff. I would like to say

[00:33:47] out of all the women Tracy is the healthiest. She crazy. I was not prepared for that. She's crazy, but he cheats on her. I don't know what happens later but in the whole movie he cheats on her. It looks like they break up and she's done. Yeah.

[00:34:05] None of these 10 day games. I would say Deidre is kind of low-key healthy too but we'll get to that. Deidre's got... So let's roll up on the team. She's self-aware. I'll give her that. She's self-aware but she's still... She's got this dude in her house

[00:34:20] with all his friends and his gold. She's digmatized. She is digmatized. Nina's no money, no job. Mouth full of gold but no money. Mouth full of money. So I'm not happy about that. The panty thing... I feel like if I'm going to that step what are we doing?

[00:34:45] I'm not doing that. Bye. I could have you. They could have you. So I do think that what you want in your life you should make sure your friends that you surround yourself probably have that same thing. If you want to be married

[00:35:06] if that's what you really want or if you want to be in a healthy relationship you should probably have a good amount of married friends or people in healthy relationships because if all of y'all are suffering it's not working. You know what I mean? Good luck finding that.

[00:35:30] And too, you don't make friends like... I learned a lot about making friends recently but you don't make friends and you're like so how's your relationship status? How healthy on a scale of 1 to 10? A lot of times you make friends

[00:35:45] and then later on you get to know their spouse and then trust and stuff and they start telling you stuff and you're like damn I would have thought you guys were great or that everything was cool. Or you have friends and then they meet their significant other

[00:35:58] and then initially it starts great and then eventually the same thing you're like I thought you guys were doing great I didn't know everything was... I agree. I'm not saying that you have to make all your friends that way but I think you should have some balance.

[00:36:15] If you're single but you want... Because what ends up happening too is that if you end up getting into a relationship you end up hanging out with people in relationships together because let me tell you as a single friend

[00:36:29] there's nothing worse than being with all of your friends with boyfriends. I don't want to hang out with y'all. I don't want to do it. It's just like I want to go hang out with single friends or like I love that I have some married friends

[00:36:45] that I barely even know where their husbands are. Sometimes I ask one of my friends if he's still alive just to check. Because you're being a good friend. I'm checking on that dude all the time. And you know who you are. You know what was weird for me?

[00:37:08] What was weird for me was meeting the husband's friends whose wives became friends to your friend. That was a little wild to me because I was like oh wait this is a lot of coupling and you all are always doing stuff together. That's next level.

[00:37:31] That's like couples retreat level stuff. I'm definitely into those trips. Ken and I learned that we had to make this work. She was not giving it up. No, I was like y'all were next door neighbors. You work this shit out and I'll move back.

[00:37:52] But you got half an hour. I was like oh Ken's coming? Okay. He's still here? He's still here. This is still a thing? You're moving? Oh, okay. The Ken thing didn't really affect me at first because I had moved to New York and You were away.

[00:38:21] I was away. But then I was like wow this is real. I started getting cards with pictures of them on it. I was like what the fuck is this? I was like. You're in a relationship. I didn't visit Austin for a while.

[00:38:40] It wasn't until Jackie turned 30 that I finally went. I was like oh, okay. I've been here for like four years. In my defense I was extremely broke for a while there. Money was tight. Couldn't be taking no trips. Well when you're running a free blog.

[00:39:09] So yeah, that was an adjustment. Hello everyone! My name is Ben Groves. And my name is Rob McFarlane. And together we are the Every Movie Ever podcast. We've always found refuge in movies. We love them all. From sci-fi, horror, to Oscar winning drama. So bad they're good B-movies.

[00:39:28] Each of us has had major mental struggles. I'm sober. I should be. Trauma. Mental breakdowns. And to make sure that we checked in with our best mate at least once a week. We started the Every Movie Ever podcast.

[00:39:39] Join us as we survey the worst movies in the world. And the cinematic gems that you may have missed. So whether you're a fan of Batman or billboards. Godzilla or God level writing. We've got episodes done and hundreds to come.

[00:39:51] Nick Frost says we can't do every movie ever. But we'll show him some fried f***ing gold. Find us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Or anywhere else. Click the link in our bio to find us. Consume. Did that sound good? Let's try it. Hey, this is Danny Dreher.

[00:40:09] Hi, my name is Kyne Kim. Dean Sheridan. The Every Movie Ever podcast. Yeah. So where are we? Panties? So we, yeah, we met Tracy. I told you about Deidre. And then we are introduced to Keith. Because she pulls up in her red Jaguar. Don't know what.

[00:40:33] So proud of you. And her yellow, oh gosh. I don't know if it was Prada. I have to look up what the designer was. This is the one that she paid for on her own. Anywho, so she pulls up to Keith's job. To go see him.

[00:40:52] And they have a full-on quickie. And we meet Anthony Anderson's character, Tony. Who is kind of peeping the situation that they're about to go have sex. What I find disgusting. Is after Shantay leaves, Tony comes into Keith's office. And his office is all disheveled.

[00:41:15] And Tony starts sniffing as he walks in. And he's like, why? Oh my God. And as a gentleman, I guess for a while. Keith tries to protest. But eventually he says he does. I do like that they give him an intro that rivals his intro.

[00:41:42] Morris Chestnut's intro into The Best Man. The song that plays, they show all of his accolades. Because she's boasting about her man in comparison to her lowly friends. And their loser boyfriends. Keeps a good man. You know what's crazy? I feel like Morris Chestnut in The Best Man.

[00:42:04] And then maybe a little bit in this movie. It's like if Ricky never got shot. Yeah, and he is Ricky. He is Ricky. He's like the golden boy. Constantly. And in Brothers as well. The Brothers is more blurry for me than The Best Man.

[00:42:25] I've seen that a lot more. But yes, yes. What I do want to read though. Is because Vivica and Morris Chestnut used to be on a TV show. I think it was 92. It was called Up All Night. And it had, it starred Patti LuBelle as well.

[00:42:42] It lasted one season. But it always sticks in my brain. I always remember that show for some reason. And side note going back. It was a yellow Versace suit that she had custom tailored. And that, like I said, the other dress that we see later is also.

[00:43:04] I think that dress she has is Versace as well. And I think that dress is a little bit more like a Versace-ish. So Vivica looks real damn good in Versace. Maybe one day. So Vivica said. I did a sitcom years ago called Out All Night with Patti LuBelle.

[00:43:24] When we first did the show. Morris had just come off Boys in the Hood and he was still kind of young, still kind of green. He really was into video games. And then by the time we did two can play that game, He was like, I'm a father.

[00:43:35] And he had really turned into this man. I was like, you kind of sexy for real. It was, it was just amazing to watch him evolve. And then now to see him at the time when this article was written on that show, Rosewood.

[00:43:50] He's gotten even finer. I'm like, damn. You like fine wine, baby. He takes care of himself and I appreciate him for that. Morris Chestnut was one of the best kissers. I think she was on what watch what happens live with Andy Cohen.

[00:44:05] And she was asked who her best. On-screen kisser was. And she reiterated that it was Morris Chestnut. And she said. Exactamundo. He knows it like Jackie's background, like, you know, and he also like, he references the LL cool J. Like looking at the lips.

[00:44:29] But like Morris Chestnut's got his own thing going on there. Cause he doesn't the best man. Yeah. Even that, like the man is aging. Yeah. And he, if I don't know if you guys have seen the best man TV show that came out. Yeah. Yeah. The man was.

[00:44:45] Not wearing a lot of clothes and a lot of those episodes. And I was here for it. Yes. See, that was the prime example of the best man. Well, he is, he's been married this whole time. So she said. Like, so this movie came out 2001.

[00:44:59] So he's been married for so long. I don't know if he's faithful, but we haven't heard anything in the streets. So I would like to believe. Yes. So we meet Keith. Shantanu. And he's a very, very good actor. And he's a very good actor.

[00:45:14] And he's a very good actor. And he's a very good actor. And he's a very good actor. And he's a very good actor. And he's a very good actor. And he's a very good actor. And he's a very good actor. And he's a very good actor.

[00:45:22] And he's a very good actor. So we meet Keith. Shanta is happy. Then she goes, I think she goes back to go. They go to dancing. Oh, they go out for. Dinner. Connie. Oh, Okay. I'm not going to say any of it all. My background,

[00:45:47] one of the most iconic scenes in this whole damn movie. We are introduced to Connie Spalding. Spalding. Played by Gabrielle union and. Her ponytail was whipping. Whipping back and forth. Ariana Grande who. Right. She is like walking in. She got a slow motion walk. And then she's like,

[00:46:09] I'm going to go to the bathroom. And then she's like, I'm going to go to the bathroom. And then they just exchange with each other. It's always so fucking hilarious. Yeah. Check up on your man. Oh my God. And I think too, the contrast in costuming.

[00:46:24] Like where Shanta has this like really nice muted yellow suit. And Connie is in this like really bright red and like a shortish. Skirt and just yet. I think she. I don't know if I'm going to be able to say that.

[00:46:36] I don't know if I'm going to be able to say that. But like, you know, she infamously also calls her a house. Like you definitely get corporate ho from her. While they talk about. In that interview, I was telling you about.

[00:46:53] That they did try to make it a contrast. So when it came to. I think it was like, okay, I just tried to do everything. That was opposite of what Shanta slash Vivica was wearing. So she's like, Vivica wasn't wearing a ponytail that day.

[00:47:05] So I was like, let's get a high pony. Let's do it. Yeah. And Shanta is wearing more pastels. Bright colors while. Connie is wearing, you know, a femme fatale. Kind of colors. And I think that's what they were trying to do.

[00:47:26] To make it look like she was wearing a high ponytail. To her body. So there was a very particular deliberate. Look for each character to make sure that they look like opposites. Not that you would confuse them, but you know what I mean?

[00:47:43] I feel like Connie's character is the continuation of Gabrielle in love. And I think that's what they were trying to do. What I, what I do love about this movie is that. It's very. True to a lot of black people's experiences, which is that some, you know,

[00:48:10] obviously we talk about code switching on where at work. And, you know, whether maybe you have your friends from your neighborhood and you, maybe you went to college and now you're in like a. High powered job. And maybe they're still in the neighborhood. So like, socioeconomic differences.

[00:48:30] In your friendships, but you're still friends with that kind of. Yeah. Situations. So I like how they kind of showcase that because I think it's. It's like, I think it's like, it's like a really good way to kind of show that there are.

[00:48:43] There are just disparities in between. Yeah. There's socialized. Yeah. And maybe that's why Diedre is her friend. Like. He's one of those. She did say she grew up in Englewood. So yeah, maybe she's from the block. And you know, they're still just homies. Like. I don't know.

[00:49:02] I don't know. I don't know. But Tamala talks about how her character, like she really felt like was kind of like a. Borderline hood. Like she was. She had the hood. Adjacent situation going on for her.

[00:49:21] She was very easily able to jump back into it with that character. So I thought I really did like that aspect of it. I think that's a really good way to show that. Like, I think it was a conscious effort that they all made for these characters. Yeah.

[00:49:35] So. Where are we? So we meet Connie. Where. Now her and Keith are going to dancing or is she with her girlfriends at the bar? She's with her girlfriends at the bar. Well, so she. I think it's two separate houses. Yeah.

[00:49:57] So they're dancing and they're having a girls night. Yeah. But they can't. Go out to dinner because she has plans with Keith. And while they're like kiki and laughing, of course, there has to be a dance number with each other, which is really cool. Cute.

[00:50:14] It made me feel like this waiting to exhale moment. Yes. Yes. So they're dancing, kicking whatnot. And then they get a phone call. And it's Keith. And he's like, I'm sorry, I'm late. And one of the friends answers the phone.

[00:50:29] And it's Keith that he is working late. So. We had just gotten a whole spiel from Shantae about all the different ways that you could start to figure out that your man is starting to creep.

[00:50:45] And the number one excuse that you get is that I have to work late. That is like a sure sign. Sure fire sign that he's cheating. I don't know if that's a good thing. I don't know if that's a good thing.

[00:50:53] I don't know if that's a good thing. We can't the montage of like all the other men, like with their excuses. Like that. But. Those montages were the only realistic thing about this. But yeah, I do think that.

[00:51:20] I think that it shows you how messed up Shantae is. Like clearly. She needs therapy and she's been hurt. So much so that she's making all these rules and doing all these things because she can't fully, she has trust issues. She can't be vulnerable.

[00:51:46] And she's like, I'm not giving you 28. I'm not giving you 28. I'm still a 28. Yeah, that's true. Also another truth. Maybe that was why they chose that age. Cause I was like, it's not giving 28. But then explain the sequel. Cause we know our girl was. There's a sequel. Yeah.

[00:52:06] We can play that game. And I wish. I have to watch. I love that song. So, yes. So she's high. Her senses are heightened about, okay, Keith is working late. And then they go to her favorite spot. To go get some drinks and hang out. And sure enough.

[00:52:33] To clear her head. Sure enough. Keith. And his trifling ass. With some high yellow girl from the office. Which is just a clumsy move to take. Somebody. Like that. To the spot where notoriously her best friend said, Shanti likes to go to clear her head about things.

[00:53:06] And then she goes to him and says, I'm going to go to the spot where notoriously her best friend said. So there was no texting. All right. You're right. Maybe a two way at best. He really fucked up.

[00:53:24] And what I do love is Tony calls him out on this. Cause he was like, dude, bro. You don't fucked up because secretly. You want it to, you want it to smash a hundred percent? And he's like, I'm going to go to the spot where notoriously her best

[00:53:36] friend said. And you got caught. Like is real rookie moves out here. But sometimes the really handsome guys have no real game. Because they never had to really do anything. Yeah. Easy. So some, those are the ones. Those motherfuckers who really be getting caught up.

[00:53:52] And then they will look at you dead in the face and be like, baby. It's all right. All right. Cause they see. They see. I think you should probably just, you know, get out of his fucking house. Or get him. Get out of my fucking house. Right.

[00:54:09] Do you like how calm she was? I feel like that would be me. It's just like going up. I see you. And then I. If it was texting age. If I saw that with my girlfriend. I would be calm, but I would take a picture.

[00:54:28] I would text you. And then I would be like, oh, my God. You have fun. You having fun. Having fun. This doesn't seem like work to me. Okay. Interesting. It is not that interesting. Oh, that's funny. I was like, I'm going to be crazy.

[00:54:55] So-and-so said that they went to my spot. And they sent me this picture. And I was like, I can't be. I know. My dad would have said in that situation, if you aren't physically walking up to me and touching me, I wasn't down.

[00:55:16] And then I would be like, oh, my God. You took a picture. That's a man who. My dad. Of Greg. There is, I don't think there's ever been a man to really truly surprise me with shenanigans because they don't know who my dad was. They don't know.

[00:55:42] There ain't nothing you have ever done that. I don't think there's ever been a man to really surprise me with shenanigans. Those are the kind of women that guys stay away from. Who have dads who. Yeah. Like brothers, girls and brothers.

[00:55:58] There's nothing you can tell a girl and brothers. I've got four brothers. And they're all ridiculous. I remember watching this thinking. Idiot. Idiot, Daniel. And I'm pretty sure like she goes rule. Number one was never panic. Rule number two, never late. Your girlfriends now.

[00:56:30] But then I feel like at some point. She says another rule. Number one. I'm like, girl, you don't even know your own rules. I don't know. She doesn't know. She doesn't know. She don't know. It felt very much like she was winging it. She was.

[00:56:47] Do you think she wrote these down somewhere? I found a site that wrote some of them down. Okay. So day one. What to do. Check your phone, but do not call. They updated this for today. And then it says, why? I feel like. Guideline to life.

[00:57:11] And then it says, why? If he hasn't called yet, it's not because he doesn't care. He's just trying to think of a strategy. Whoever calls first loses ground. So he doesn't call first. Because he goes to his homeboy Tony's. Now this is what is perplexing to me.

[00:57:32] I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. But my hypothesis is because this man is so handsome. He has never really had to struggle in this situation. He's also a dumb, dumb. Right. But he's also playing out of his league. Cause this girl's.

[00:57:51] Cuckoo for Cocoa puffs. And he has no idea. I think this whole time. I'm like, oh man, I got a call. I fucked up. And this is when Tony calls him out on that. And now we learned that Tony seems to be some.

[00:58:19] Fake relationship genius or knowing how to play women, apparently. And I'm looking at Tony and I'm like, I don't know what to do. I don't need to know anything else about women. I have three sisters and a mama or some crazy shit that he says. Or whatever.

[00:58:31] So here this dumb, dumb. I mean, Keith is sitting here listening to the man who has no girlfriend, no prospect for a girlfriend, no wife, nothing. Tell him. How to win back. And here's the thing. He's not even trying to win. Help him win back his girlfriend.

[00:58:47] He just wants to play the game. All the men, you can't let this chick win. Because it's going to set us back soon. They'll be in our. We'll be in the kitchens and they'll be on the couch watching football like this whole diatribe.

[00:59:13] And then he'll be like, I'm going to call you tomorrow. And I'll be like, okay, I'll just say whatever I want to say. So he tells Keith do not call. Do not call. Don't call. And so keep dumb ass. Like you're right. You're right.

[00:59:26] Because by the time I call tomorrow, she'll be like, it's okay, baby. He's like, I'll just say what. Can again, because he's thinking with hot brain. When you have hot brain. You don't think regular rules apply to you because you've never had to

[00:59:39] try. You were hot in high school. Girls were doing your homework. Maybe you played on the football team. So people were just, you're breezing through your breezing. You've never had to work hard. Is that Shantay has standards? Yes. Yeah.

[00:59:54] Like there are women who are in her position and all that stuff. Who don't have standards. Who would have happened happily been like, he said that she, you know, it's just a girl from work. It's not a girl from work.

[01:00:05] Like it's nothing, but she was like, oh no. You're going to be acting like this. It bears me. Oh, we're gonna get you right together. She has standards. She has money and she has resources. And she needs therapy. If you put all those together.

[01:00:24] But also I think the other factor of this is it's not even just having the standards. I think it's like, I think it's like the fact that Shantay was embarrassed because again, what we've established is that she feels in the hierarchy of her friendships.

[01:00:41] That she is above her friends and here she is given all this advice. Like she's hot. And there these dumb dumbs are eating it up. And now her sainted man. Is embarrassing her. Do you remember that lady with the low vibrational plate? I remember that. I remember that.

[01:01:08] I remember that. She keeps a bunch of people who are like, oh my God, she just. It's just constantly dogging them and talking down to them. And be like, see that right there. I would never let somebody. And little do you know.

[01:01:24] Dog her or something's not right, but, well, I mean, Keep really like the moment. I think that's like the, the biggest thing that I think is like the biggest thing that I think is like the biggest thing is like. He got caught.

[01:01:37] He should have left and went straight to her house. And begged for forgiveness. Cause like. Obviously he didn't do anything, but his intentions were like not pure something wasn't right there. But I also think instead of them having like a real honest conversation.

[01:01:53] The problem is that they both started playing games. And like, I think that's another part too that like being that they might be like both 28 ish. Like this might've been like his first, like real. Cause like when he, after they had sex in the office,

[01:02:08] He tells Tony, he's like, you know, no one could ever make me get rid of like that woman. Like, you know, she's the best or whatever. And I feel like this is like probably the first time he's really had that conversation. Like, you know,

[01:02:20] I think that's another part too that like, I feel like Chante could easily have become a cult leader. I feel like Chante could easily have become a cult leader. A hundred.

[01:03:03] I think that's a good point. Like, I think that's a good point because like Chante is like the, what is that called? Not the soulmate. Twin flames. Those crazy nutcases. Get people to listen to them. She easily would have. Low vibrational plate. She's all of that.

[01:03:23] Mixed into one. So he does not call her. Now. Chante has silk pillows, but she does not wrap her hair. And she does not put a scarf on. And she puts her I'm. I mask on and goes to sleep. And I was like, hold on.

[01:03:37] This is a black movie. Black cats, black writer, black director. And we ain't putting a bonnet scarf. Yeah. Sorry. Most unbelievable part of the movie. I've got a scarf hat. So she goes to bed. She was like, all right, check it. He ain't call wasn't.

[01:03:56] I was not prepared for that. I mean, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I don't want to be rude. I don't want to be rude. I don't want to be rude. But she's a. She's a Tony move because this is not a Keith move.

[01:04:09] This is a Tony move. Yes. She should have been taken out, Tony. She should have known. That you're. You know, Keith is not this bright. Okay. So because think about it, Keith is hot, but also Keith was in law school.

[01:04:25] And so he's not maybe the brightest in the sense that like street smarts. Street smarts. He's been in the books. Right. So. She got lucky, but then he got contaminated by Tony. So. It's man, man. His man module got triggered turned on and now it's done.

[01:04:46] So I don't know. I don't know what to say. I'm just going to say, I'm going to say that like he's like the crazy up to 11. What I love is that they bring up the fact that the people at church

[01:05:10] are like the worst. And it's so, I hate to say it, but it's so true. If you meet a guy. It's not all, but a good majority. It's not all bad. It's not all bad. It's not all bad. It's not all bad. Run.

[01:05:27] Cause don't be, don't be the worst ones. I'm just going to say. Any who. So she goes to church. And so she knows that she can. She does make a point of the fact that men are sometimes the biggest The biggest,

[01:05:44] the biggest problem is that they're not the best friends. So she's like, I don't know if I'm a friend of Keith or in the friend group of Keith. Which also I'm a little confused. And I'm wondering if maybe just like all of Keith's friends are work.

[01:05:56] Adjacent friends because usually hot people are with hot people. So I'm like, I have not seen. I have not seen a hot friend yet. It's weird. The brothers group. Right. Is there not. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

[01:06:11] Like that should be the friend group with maybe a deal. You know what I mean? Any who. Not that I'm saying deal Hughley's is. But in that group, he stood out. You know, he's not slow motion. Fine. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

[01:06:33] I don't know. So she said that this plan is that if she rubs up or hugs up on somebody, she needs someone who's going to like a run tell that. So she hugs up on some guy, gives him a real good Christian hug. A long grind. Yeah.

[01:06:47] And so of course there's a guy. I don't know. Keith doesn't go golfing because he's upset, which Chante called. She said the first few days are easy for her, but it's going to be hard for him. I don't know why that is, but okay. So she goes.

[01:07:06] She goes rubs up on him. Of course. He tells Tony what happened. And so Tony has to tell her hit Keith that like, yo. That's a good idea. I think that's a good idea. I don't know if that's a good idea, but I think it's a good idea.

[01:07:22] I think that's a good idea. But Tony has to tell her like rubs up on some dude. I do love that. Tony was like, nah, that's not, that's not something she would do. Yeah. At first when the guy is like telling him. So I thought that was funny.

[01:07:32] And I think. He does, he called her and she just, oh, he's, he's calling her, but she's not answering. She has not been answering her. Her phone. And we see voicemail, which God, an answer machine. And it was always nice to come home and there's like, you have.

[01:07:48] Three unread. Unlistened messages. We go out of our way to like, not even respond to like a text. Which is good. I get a voicemail on my cell phone. I am angry. Why the fuck are you. Leaving me a voicemail. Do you know? Where you can read it.

[01:08:04] Yes. I'm like delete, delete, delete. Like what is this? It gives me anxiety. I mean, So much about phones now gives me anxiety, but like I. Thankfully, like I have some voicemails from my grandma that I want. Keeping. Stuff like that. I appreciate. But like even.

[01:08:20] Notes like messages. Yeah. Like it has to be from the right person, but sometimes I'm just like. What on earth could you not text me? To tell me this.

[01:08:30] I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I have some friends that will record voice messages and I record. I do it too. But in messenger.

[01:08:41] You can do like 1.5 or two times speed. So I'm like, let's. My whole life is like, let me put it on. Yeah. Once I unlocked that on tech talk. I mean, game changer. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

[01:08:58] I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't even, I'm like, Oh, you're talking too slow. Fans are so bad. So, so bad. Can send me a tick tock. He's like, why are you listening to it? So fast? It's a slow bird. I was like, no.

[01:09:15] I know that. I know that I realized that I talk slow. Because even when I'm watching back, the video is like, bitch. I'm like, I'm not going to watch it. I'm not going to watch it. I'm not going to watch it.

[01:09:30] And so I'm like trying to fast forward it. So it doesn't sound. You know, whatever. Because I'm thinking. Yeah. Unfortunately. They're grappling for the mic in there. Like, I know I do it too, whatever. Millennial pause. I'm losing the art of storytelling.

[01:10:02] Because there are pauses and things that people are doing intentionally sometimes that like, you're like, Oh, it's emphasizing things. But I'm just like, okay. Like what, where, what happened? Some people are good at it and some aren't. Anywho. So next day. Shanta is at work and she knows.

[01:10:17] That he's going to call. And of course he does. What I love about this next scene, when she's waiting for him to call. I was very surprised to see that David Krumholz. I think that's how you say his name. Is just in it. I don't know.

[01:10:47] I just think of him as Wednesday. Adam's boyfriend at camp. Oh yeah. That's that too. Same kid. I never connected. So he plays her assistant Jason randomly. He's annoyed at her playing games. And he's like, but you've been waiting for his call.

[01:11:07] Because he calls and she's like, tell him I'm busy. And he's like, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. That's also a power move. Yeah. One thing I wish, which I guess do not disturb is our new, but like, there's no more.

[01:11:21] Like, let me call this person. Hey, so-and-so available. Really? Like, cause there's no house phones really. You can't be like. So do not disturb is like your best bet is like, oh. Oh no, I'm pushing this call.

[01:11:36] That's a boss move to be able to be like, I'm busy. I'm in another meeting. So if she plays some games with him where. He does, she doesn't answer. And then she's like, when you do answer, you make it short, quick. And you take it offline. Essentially.

[01:11:49] You're going to go meet in person. And so that's what she does. And Keith is like, I'm prepared for all of this. Tony is trying to guide him. They go meet in person. And so they're like, okay, So that's what she does.

[01:12:01] And Keith is like, I'm prepared for all of this. Tony is trying to guide him. They go meet in a restaurant. And she is in control. She has very much Libra energy in this situation where she has the upper hand. A hundred percent.

[01:12:16] And she wants it to be so. And she breaks up with Keith. And he is not prepared. He thinks that he just kind of fucked up. It's minor. Yeah. But she's like, no. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that.

[01:12:28] I'm not going to do that. It's also kind of logical brain in a sense, like, okay. I messed up, but like what? He does not see it coming. And her philosophy is that. She has to punish him, which I think is just like, so unhealthy. Yeah.

[01:12:45] Just tell him that this will hurt your feelings or this wasn't good. Like if you're in a real relationship. You're not playing power struggle games here. Yeah. Well, because it should be, Hey. Well, he should have never done it in the first place.

[01:13:01] Like if he legitimately had to go somewhere with maybe a client after work or something, don't say I'm staying late at work. Like be very clear in what you were doing. I have to take this female client. Out for drinks. It is work-related. This is where I'll be.

[01:13:18] You can come sit at the table next to me and make sure no nothing's happening. And I'll be like, I'm not going to be there for you. And then you're like, Whatever. Not bumping a grind. I know you ain't on that. Goddamn dance floor.

[01:13:32] Do they have cell phones in this movie? No. The only caveat to that. I think it's like, I think it's like a lot of the girls are like, Hey, let's go out. And then maybe they end earlier, whatever. And the girls like, Hey, let's go.

[01:13:58] You know, you know, somewhere we can get drinks or food and something is like, yeah, I know a place. And so Sam cell phone times. Like Shantae was already out. Do you call back and say, Hey, like I'm going to go out now. Like, or.

[01:14:11] You leave a message on my answering machine. Yeah. I think it's like a crazy thing thinking about like how this is still relevant or like dating is still up now because there's so many more avenues for better decision-making. And it's just like, no,

[01:14:26] I'm going to find a way to circumvent all this. Yeah. Conversations. Yeah. Like it's very easy to communicate and still you're fucking up. I'm telling you is. It's a mess. In nature at this point. I feel like. What he could have done. And again, we don't know.

[01:14:42] We could have, we could have, would have, should have, but he already admitted to Tony that he had no, he had bad, poor intentions. He did. And if he, all he had to say to the girl was like, oh, you know what?

[01:14:52] We can go to my favorite, my girlfriend's favorite spot. She loves it. Or I got to call my girlfriend and let her know that I'm going to be at this place. You know, because then he would have, because the girl was like, who's that? Yeah. Yeah.

[01:15:05] That that's that expectation. Who's that? I'm trying to taste myth. I do love that. She makes it clear that she doesn't have beef with the girl. Because Deidre was like, I would just slap the shit out of the her and him. And she was like, that girl.

[01:15:23] Didn't do anything. I do love that she makes it clear that she doesn't have beef with a girl, because Deidre was like ready to slap the shit out of her and him. And she was like, that girl didn't do anything. It's my dumbass man.

[01:15:37] Yeah, she breaks up with Keith. Keith is devastated. He can't do anything as she's like going about her life. She's taking baths. She's going in the grocery. I love how she like glamorizes this real simple shit. She's like, go take a bath, go to Victoria's Secret. I'm like what?

[01:15:59] Aaron's is what she's telling me to do. He's a mess. Tony's trying to get him to get over it. They're watching football. They're doing whatever. She's going on dates. I am laughing at this because this is supposed to be 10 days. Shante. Yeah, she was with these scum of the earth. But where was she finding these men so quickly without dating apps?

[01:16:23] Her little black book. She had a man, this is the most realistic part of the movie where she was going on these dates and this man was rubbing his nipple ring. That happened to you?

[01:16:39] I'm just saying. I'm just saying that going on bad dates was the most realistic parts like the weirdos that she was going on dates with. So yeah, she goes on these dates and then he's such an effunct so Tony tells him to do something so he shows up unexpectedly at her house.

[01:17:04] And she was prepared that he might do this. And so we think the next day because we see him and he's like real excited and happy. We think they slept together but it turns out that he, I'm not mad they were trying to use physics terms and stuff like that. Physics laws. He like started an argument with her and then left. So it was like a transference of power.

[01:17:31] Which is shitty. Such a shitty thing to do with somebody. But it worked. It worked because she was real upset about it. And she figured it out. She's like the transference of power. That shit works. You got me.

[01:17:50] So she's upset. And I think the next thing that she does is she puts on is that when she puts on the dress and she goes over to have sex with him or not have sex with them but to get him riled up.

[01:18:05] Let me see. Oh, they were missing the part where they go up. She goes out dancing with the girls and then Kevin is also out dancing with Connie. Oh, who's Kevin? Keith. Keith, sorry. I did it this time. You did. Your first one.

[01:18:30] Yes, Keith is grinding up on Connie and that is pissing her off because that's like her arch nemesis. In a bona fide home. It's working. And then she goes to his house and she wears her tight Versace dress, grinds up on him and leaves. I can't.

[01:18:53] Then leave. So he's upset again. And so then Tony convinces him, look, you gotta leave this chick alone. There are so many ho-biddies in the sea.

[01:19:03] You gotta go for it. And so he goes out with Connie to a work event that Chante is gonna be at and she is not prepared for this. No, yes.

[01:19:16] She finally lets her crazy out because she's like, I'd have, you know, she has words with him and then she goes after Connie, which is like, anyone knows that's a big no, no, you don't go after the girl like come on.

[01:19:29] And I love that Connie's like, why are you up in my face? Right. Yeah. So, and I know that I fight for villains a lot, but I don't think Connie is a villain. She's just living. The only thing is like, if you know he has a girlfriend.

[01:19:51] And you know her. Yeah. Right. But they're not together. They broke up. No, but she was going after him while like he had just had sex with her with Chante in the office when Connie shows up rubbing up on him and being like, hey.

[01:20:10] But we never see that she's rubbing up on him do we? Danielle, just put it. No, we don't. Sorry. Put it in the perspective of if a girl was doing what Connie was doing prior to the breakup to one of your friend's boyfriends, how would you feel?

[01:20:27] I'd beat her up. So you know it's wrong. She's putting out the signals like when you want and when you can get this, which is crazy because honestly he could have cheated like this whole situation could have started with her. Yeah. Instead of that random other girl.

[01:20:49] But the problem is that Keith, that's his name right? Yes. Yeah. Sorry I got y'all. The problem is Keith was never attracted to Connie. I think the only reason he's giving Connie the attention that he is because of the situation he's in.

[01:21:12] Because one of the things that he tells Tony is that she is so aggressive. She like he feels like she's going to eat him alive.

[01:21:21] And I don't think he likes the thirstiness of it all. So I think that's why he's been able to kind of avoid her. That other bitch that he was with was real timid like, you know, up his alley.

[01:21:33] She's the one that she needed to be watching out for. Keith just needed a weak moment, I guess you could say.

[01:21:42] But yeah, so she loses her cool. Now this is the part of the movie that I feel like this part of the movie is equivalent to in the Fast and the Furious movies when they go into space.

[01:21:55] That's how astronomically ridiculous this part of the movie is to me. Marley will enjoy that. That's Danielle's new barometer of how like bad she is. How crazy. Yeah, it's the new jumping the shark. Cars in space.

[01:22:17] Because I don't know like she goes outside. She busts her own tire. Crazy. And she's trying to randomly find like how busy is this street? I thought about that. And two... Because it looked residential.

[01:22:38] Right. And so and to like, what are the chances that you're going to get a semi rich, decent looking man? Yeah.

[01:22:49] I had a flat tire in the parking lot of a daycare where I worked. And it was during pickup time. It was like five o'clock. All the dads are coming in and out getting their kids. Not one of them offered to help me change my tire.

[01:23:11] The only person that offered was shout out to Eve, because I'm so friends with her. She was the only one to like offer one of the moms. Wow. I had about 20 men walk by me.

[01:23:27] I don't have those skills. If these breasts aren't going to do anything for me in this world. That's what AAA is for. And these triple D's are to get someone to fix the tire.

[01:23:42] Well, I had put a call out to my AAA, Kenneth, but he was busy at work and couldn't get there for like an hour and a half, two hours. And I'm like, I'm not staying at work that long. I'll just change the damn tire myself.

[01:23:58] I don't have the capability. Don't.

[01:24:02] So randomly, a handsome weird. I want to say they've got the oddest looking white man ever. And I want to say this is the comparison that whenever there are white people in non starring roles in black movies, they always look so fucking weird to me.

[01:24:21] And it's the equivalent to when I'm watching Korean dramas, and then they have like Americans in them, but they're foreigners and they don't sound anything like Americans. And I'm just like, do other people in Korea think this is normal because it's not? It's hilarious to me. It's so fish out of water.

[01:24:41] That's what this guy Bryson, I don't know what his name was. Looks like a Bryson. Yeah, like his face looks square. Literally, it was just weird. Yeah. Anywho, Shantae used him as a prop. And of course, Keke was in his feelings losing his fucking shit about this dude.

[01:25:00] Also, Tony's egging him on because he's like, she's not over there just you know, doing this. She's over there having deep conversation with him. And I'm like, oh my god. It was yeah, Tony is the worst. Okay. Tony is half the reason why he's in this situation. Yeah.

[01:25:52] out of her purse. Fucks his shit up, she says. And he loses it. He's like, what is this? And come on, dude, how are you falling for this? How out of all the things in that tiny ass purse, it's just a random ass condom that falls out?

[01:26:08] What she should have did was have a Magnum condom. That would have really fucked his shit up. Oh my god. I mean that was a boss move.

[01:26:21] It was. But he's like, if you leave here, we're done. And so she's like, it's like, whatever. I'ma live me. I'ma do me. And she really thinks that he's going to be at her house when she gets there. I'm like, what?

[01:26:34] That's the Fast and the Furious Carson Stiles. Because I'm like, at what point is he changing his mind about something?

[01:26:45] This is just so toxic. This is because this is what toxic people do. They play fucking games with each other like nobody's got time for this. And so he finally concedes and he's like, whatever. He does not show up. She has a few red herrings, the Chinese food delivery man comes and wrong address.

[01:27:05] And so she's like, okay, I'm going to go back to my favorite spot.

[01:27:10] And of course, another girl comes to the bar and what I love is Shantae is a girl's girl. She is. She's like, hey, girl, how's it going? She's like, there's a fine ass brother over there. He ain't paying attention to me. And I don't know why that don't happen. Talk about his ex-girl and she turns around and it's her boo.

[01:27:28] And they're like, okay, let's let's give this another try. Apparently, the ending was a little bit more steamy between Shantae and Keith, but test audiences found it too unrealistic. And so it was ultimately cut from the film.

[01:27:46] Oh fuck if we if we could have had a shirtless Morris chestnut scene. Fuck those test audience. Who was this test audience? Was it like an old folks home? Right? I don't know. Why am I not in test audiences?

[01:28:00] Right. They would kick me out immediately. She got too many notes. I can't remember their names. I've only done one and it was a movie we actually have to do on the podcast. It was Walking Tall. The movie with the rock?

[01:28:16] Oh, we all had different movies in mind. I was thinking about the movie with Reese Witherspoon about that country man. Walk the Line. See, I was I was thinking about the spoof of that movie.

[01:28:35] It's the one with the rock where he has a big two by four in the casino. Oh, never saw it. Well, we will. That doesn't sound like a good movie. Yeah. Well, and that is Two Can Play That Game.

[01:28:52] We know that it doesn't work out for these two, unfortunately, because there is Three Can Play That Game and Morris Chestnut is not in that movie. And we find out that Keith gets a job overseas and Vivica does not want to go unless they're married.

[01:29:11] And he's like, I'm not really sure about this. And he leaves. This whole movie was so nothing. I didn't know there was a sequel. Yeah. Anywho. I was like, wait, how'd we get to three? Because we started at two. We need the prequel One Can Play That Game.

[01:29:32] Maria Hedler. This is when Shantay comes up with all the rules. Yeah, exactly. So they shot this film in five weeks. Did you guys catch the Monica cameo at the restaurant? She is one of the servers for Keith and Shantay, but they're dating. Supposedly.

[01:29:55] This is Lala Anthony's debut as well as the director. Yes. With her original face because you can't tell me she ain't done some stuff. Oh yeah. Allegedly. So we talked about some of the wardrobes. Pay attention to the colors Shantay and Keith wear through the film.

[01:30:18] Shantay often appears in bold, confident colors like red and yellow, while Keith tends to favor cooler tones like blue and green. The subtly... Subtly. Subtly? Well, why is there a B in there? Because it's the English language. Yeah. This subtly... I know how to say this word!

[01:30:46] This reflects their opposing personalities and strategies. I love his blue sweater. Yeah, blue looks very good on his skin. Those sweaters in the 2000s, the like muscly. Bring those back. Thank you. And bring those men back too. Yes, 90s fine is a totally different subject.

[01:31:10] We can make a whole episode on that. I do find it interesting that one of the debates that the director had with the executives at Sony was about Shantay's house. The argument was that there was no way Shantay would be able to afford that house.

[01:31:24] It could have been a similar house and I said no. I said look, I want my movies to be aspirational. This is the director. You've seen guys in the ghetto driving a Toyota and I want her to drive a brand new convertible Jaguar.

[01:31:37] I want her living in a really, really nice house that bespeaks the level of success that she has acquired. I want it to be a social statement that even though the Black woman's earning power is less than her white female counterparts and her male Black counterparts,

[01:31:53] I wanted to see her not only exude power in what she says but I wanted it to be subliminal impression that this woman is successful and there are successful Black women around. Part of that was me trying to make a political statement

[01:32:07] with who she is and the condition of Black women. I find that funny because if you look at things today, if you saw that scene it would not be weird. When I watched that movie I didn't think it was... I didn't question it for a second.

[01:32:21] No, not at all. There were Black women living that experience at that time. Yeah, yeah. I'm thinking back to Waiting to Exhale because Angela Bassett. But she was a housewife in that movie. But Whitney had the career and stuff. I don't think we ever really got to see

[01:32:44] the fruits of her career as much. But yeah, that's crazy to think like... Thank you to that brother for making that choice because growing up and watching this movie it made that aspirational and normal for me. It's not out of my grasp to have a luxury car

[01:33:07] and stuff like that. So yes, props to you, sir. That's one good thing he did in this movie. Oh, the film originally was written as a sequel to Jackie Earp, one of your faves, How to Be a Player. It was previously titled

[01:33:26] How to Make Your Man Behave in 10 Days or Less. While the title got changed, the central premise is how to get a man back, mind stay the same. And the working title for the movie was Queen B before they settled on two people.

[01:33:40] I wonder if some white girl watched this and wrote How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. No, because I think that movie came out... Oh, I don't know. Which one came out first? 2003. Oh, maybe. You're right. A little inspiration, maybe. How to get your man back in 10 days.

[01:34:02] That's loud to me, the 10 days of everything. Girl, you speaking on some over there. Well, if you have any comments on our commentary or want us to do another movie or whatever you want to tell us, hit us up at NoMoreLeafies

[01:34:20] on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube and Threads. And Bria, I'm going to start with you. What is your present day rating of this film? Why would I need this for two days? I'm going to take a two day rental. Jackie? I am going same, two day rental. Me?

[01:34:39] I still own that bitch. I cringe a lot re-watching it. And the funny thing is I watched it last year again and I don't remember cringing as much. I don't know if I was really paying attention. So I'm going to move it to a five day rental

[01:34:56] because I think it still makes me laugh because it's so fucking stupid. It holds up. And you're probably just mesmerized by Morris Chestnut. I think I was more mesmerized by just like, I love Vivica Fox in this movie. Is her character toxic as fuck? Yes.

[01:35:18] But is she a bad bitch? Yes. I think I'm more asked, I don't want to sound horrible, but I don't even really look at Keith as a person. He is an accessory. She's my Barbie doll and he's her accessory. That's how I look at it in this movie.

[01:35:36] I didn't see his chest in this movie. Was she in Booty Call with Tamala Jones? Okay. Can I just say one thing? We didn't talk about this, but I love the quote that it was like, vulnerability is the big dick of emotions. Women love that shit.

[01:35:59] I do love some vulnerability. Top tier emotion. When a man is vulnerable? Just in general. I've learned too in friendship, that is a necessity, I feel like for me at this point because otherwise what are we doing besides being vulnerable? We're just being acquaintances. Yeah.

[01:36:26] Well, if you have anything you'd like to add to the conversation, hit us up at our quick drop, 909-601-6653. You can also twat us at the Twitters, hem us at the threads, and you could be featured on a future episode. And Bria,

[01:36:45] it was so great spending some time with you and talking about this crazy ass movie. Yes, thank you. I'm glad I did it and I pushed myself to do it. Or Danielle really pushed me. She's like, so what day works for you?

[01:36:59] Yeah, I didn't really give you a choice. I was like, you won't be on? Great. You didn't even say yes. I'm a pusher, Katie. I push people. That's always Danielle. And as always, be kind and rewind.