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» Dictators 'R' Us

Spike Lee's cousin, Malcolm D. Lee, makes his feature film directorial debut with the charming yet frothy romantic ensemble piece, "The Best Man".

Although suffering from its incessant need to depict its characters as successful, impeccably-dressed models of modern society, "The Best Man" showcases a refreshingly captivating ensemble African-American cast, poised for stardom.

Taye Diggs ("How Stella Got Her Groove Back", "Go") plays Harper Lee, a commitment-shy author living with his girlfriend Robin (Sanaa Lathan - "Blade") in Washington DC. The film opens with the audience learning that Harper's debut novel - a quasi-biographical account of his college years fittingly titled "Unfinished Business" - has been selected by Oprah for promotion on her show.

After celebrating the good news with his lady friend, Harper returns to his old home turf - New York City - to act as best man at the wedding of his good friends Lance (Morris Chestnut - "Boyz 'N Da Hood") and Mia (Monica Calhoun - "The Players' Club").

The trip allows him to reunite with his old buds, both male and female. But when an advanced copy of Harper's novel starts doing the rounds among his click of peers, dirty laundry is aired and secrets revealed threaten the smoothness of the wedding proceedings.

Films like "Waiting To Exhale" and "Soul Food" have admirably depicted African American characters existing outside of ghetto environments and "The Best Man" proudly carries on this progressive trend, at times even to the film's detriment. Chestnut's character, Lance, for instance, is a big-time football quarterback with a hefty financial package but the film-makers go out of their way to stress that he also graduated cum laude from College.

Diggs' Harper is appealing and the ever-watchable Nia Long ("The Boiler Room") as his college sweetheart, Jordan, is sadly under-developed. But the strength of "The Best Man" lies in its supporting cast: Morris Chestnut, almost always confined to playing the jock, gets to sink his teeth into a role filled with intriguing contradictions as the God-fearing, former womanising groom; Harold Perrineau Jr. ("Romeo & Juliet") confirms his versatility as the submissive push-over of the group; and Mellisa DeSousa ("Ride") is a riot as Perrineau Jr.'s domineering girlfriend.

But it is Terence Dashon Howard ("Dead Presidents") as the immensely capable but unfocused hedonist, Quentin, who steals every scene he appears in. A combination of mesmerising smoothness and uncomfortable edginess, Howard's performance is almost too intense for the film's screwball/soap-opera atmosphere.