The Other Brother

Now that Mekhi Phifer's name is better known in Hollywood (O and the upcoming Eminem flick 8 Mile), he won't have to do movies like this one anymore, a low-rent Swingers knockoff set in Harlem. Phifer, surprisingly, given his smoldering sex appeal, is in the Jon Favreau role of sensitive nebbish trying to be a "player," while Andre Black (Loving Jezebel) fills in for Vince Vaughn as the well-meaning, financially strapped ladies' man who tries to teach his brother the ways of women, which is to say womanizing. Mandel Holland's direction is uninspired, and his scripting unsurprising, but the performances by Phifer and Black are ultimately winning. You'll find yourself wishing that you and they were in another movie.