Until the brothers’ despicable plan, Ray and Eva are happily dating, Eva none the wiser than their relationship started with deception: Ray only dated her to collect $5,000 and drive her out of town. The Scene: Eva’s brothers-in-law have faked Ray’s death, hoping to force their annoying sister-in-law out of their lives for good by getting Ray out of the picture so she can accept a job offer in Chicago. It’s the power of Union and Cool J as a pair that pushes the movie from a standard early 2000s comedy full of jokes that don’t hold up and cardboard female characters to a watchable, fun romance that proved these stars were born to fall in love onscreen. Directed and co-written by Gary Hardwick, the film is a twist on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew and features a notable supporting cast - including Essence Atkins, Robinne Lee, and Meagan Good as Eva’s sisters - that, along with Union and LL Cool J, elevate a shaky script and predictable punchlines. Respectively, they play Eva, an uptight meddling older sister and hard ass restaurant inspector, and Ray, the hotshot player that Eva’s brothers-in-law hire to date her in order to get her out of their lives. It was Union’s first lead role in a romantic comedy (until then, she’d perfected playing meangirl sidekicks or scheming sidepieces) and LL’s most mainstream foray into the genre (long before he’d woo us and Queen Latifah in Last Holiday and after he was rap’s reigning ladies man). Twenty years ago, in February 2003, the comedy starring Gabrielle Union and LL Cool J hit theaters, aiming to capture a romance-hungry Valentine’s Day audience and cement its place in the Black rom-com canon.
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