The Seat Filler (2004)

A Really Great Romantic Comedy The Seat Filler is a movie that you don't want to miss. Kelly Rowland, singer, model, and 1/3rd of super group Destiny's Child stars in the movie as Jhnele. Jhnele is an internationally known singer. Duane Martin (who hasn't aged since his early 90's series "Up All Night") stars as Derrick. Derrick is a law student. He and his friend E.J. work as seat fillers to make a little extra money.At an awards show she is seated next to Derrick and sparks fly. The problem with Derrick and Jhnele the couple is that Derrick is living a lie when it comes to his relationship with Jhnele. She thinks that he is a powerful Hollywood lawyer. Derrick is everything Jhnele wants in a man, he is far more considerate than her previous man (portrayed by actor Shemar Moore). Jhnele confides in her confidant and personal assistant Sandie. Sandie is portrayed by another real life pop star, former Spice Girl Melanie Brown shines in her role as Jhenele's best friend. Kelly Rowland can really act and her and Duane Martin have great on screen chemistry. The Seat Filler is a great feel good movie. Comedian DeRay Davis has a large role in the movie and he really brings the funny in every scene that he is in. Will Derrick and Jhenele's relationship survive when she learns that he is really just a law student?

The plot of "The Seat Filler", when you strip it down to its basic components, is just the same as dozens of other romantic comedies. If you know the basic structure of the "boy meets girl" story, especially if it more specifically entails "boy meets girl, then pretends to be someone he's not even though he's being himself the whole time", you pretty much know how the story will go.That being said, however, this romantic comedy holds its own based solely on the strength of intriguing characters, witty dialog, and overall noteworthy acting from most, if not all, involved.Duane Martin, who also co-wrote and produced this movie, really makes a great leading man, and does very well as a character that many people, regardless of race, can relate to. He's very funny in this movie, and he has a very genuine down-to-earth charm that had me root for him throughout the entire movie. If you don't believe he's a good actor, it should be noted that Martin, although he played a man in his late 20's, is actually in his early 40's. He was so convincing, he could play a man a decade and a half his junior! That says something. It really does.DeRay Davis, whose face is more familiar than his name, is also gut-bustingly hilarious as E.J., Martin's fast-talking, wise-cracking roommate. Davis's precise comic timing makes up for some slight plot holes regarding his situation. Specifically, it's never fully determined how the both of them are able to afford the apartment they're in. E.J. appears to be making as much money, if not less, than Martin's character Derrick, and he doesn't appear to have too much ambition to make any more money. But this technicality could be explained in other ways, too, I suppose.Kelly Rowland is admittedly less experienced in acting than Martin, but what she lacks in experience she makes up for in credibility. Rowland in this movie plays someone who should not feel completely unfamiliar to her: a successful solo R&B artist. It's not clarified in this movie how big a star she is, whether she is a crossover success or not. It's true that she's famous enough to have people take pictures of her on the red carpet, and to afford a house as big as she has.It is certain that Rowland has an incredible charm to her. She is incredibly beautiful, but she also has an ability to be so down to earth you just love her to death. I know I did. Rowland gets compared to Beyonce all the time, which isn't hard to figure out. However, Rowland may actually have a stronger gift for acting than her former bandmate which, should it be honed further, could result in a greater screen roles for her. Although Rowland shows some inexperience in this role, she shows a lot of promise.It was surprising to see other supporting acting performances here from those who could have been in bigger movies, such as Kyla Pratt ("Fat Albert", "Dr. Doolittle") and Melanie Brown (formerly known as Scary Spice of the Spice Girls). They are experienced, but they fortunately don't try too hard to steal scenes or overact. That's pretty notable, and it's what makes this low-budget film a lot more memorable than some paltry big budget black comedies such as "Are We Done Yet" or "College Road Trip".Others may be impressed by the cameos in this movie by the likes of Chante Moore, Kenny Lattimore, and Eriq La Salle. They are impressive, but the acting really carries this film. I found this movie at a video rental store, and I bought it used. It was indeed a worthwhile investment, and a movie I will probably go back to again and again. Sure it was predictable, but the acting really carried this movie. So I am recommending it.

You know when you see a bad film? It's after you've watched it, and you're so taken by the horridness of it all that you start feeling guilty for criticizing the films you recently labeled as the worst film you ever watched, while pitying everyone involved with the steaming pile. In fact, you start to appreciate the "Phat Girlz," "Transformers," and "Killa Season's" of the world. "The Seat Filler" had that affect on me.The reason why this film was so ghastly to me was because it was trying too hard to be good. It almost took itself too seriously despite the strained, unfunny comedic moments, like an oxymoron or something.They had an original premise: a "seat filler" at an award show having a chance encounter with a pop singer. But the premise was devalued by inept directing, poor acting and appalling writing.Kelly Rowland was nightmarish as the pop singer Jhnelle who makes an unlikely connection with a "seat filler" (played by the ever-so-over-the-top Duane Martin) at an award show. And that's the whole film. No drama, no complexity, no crisis, no character arc, nothing.The characters were so uninteresting. They were just pretentious, paper thin, caricatures that were basically flawless, and I don't mean flawless in a good way. In fact, I could only mean that in their flawlessness, true character depth was compromised. I couldn't connect with any of them on a human level due to the overwhelming bombardment of sappy moments between Martin and Rowland. There was nothing to pity, no humanistic qualities, nothing to admire about them. What we should've admired about Jhnelle and her celebrity felt unrealistic, forced and underdeveloped. Derrick was more boring than Jhnelle. It was just another story about a black American aspiring to be or living as a lawyer or doctor, or something monotonous like that, another futile attempt to prove to the rest of the world that black Americans are more than thugs and pimps.And don't let me get started on DeRay Davis. He was the worst thing about the film. He was annoying, obnoxious and he couldn't shut his mouth from spewing his nonsense for more than two seconds of his screen time. It was exhausting watching him.The scenes were uneventful, only shedding light on the many holes riddled in the overall script. I found myself asking "how did he" and "didn't she" too many times.Listening to the dialogue was like listening to fingernails clawing a chalkboard. That was partly due to the lack of character development in this steaming pile.And the assistant director should've been fired while the sound editor should be sued for his awful work on this film. In the film, you would hear audience members applauding while sitting still, completely motionless, in the same shot. Mistakes like this aren't acceptable in films at this level, films that obviously had more than $500,000 in their budget to spend.The best thing about this film was the cinematography, which could've been better as well.This film would've gotten more than a star from me if it was a spoof, making fun of its cliché "boy meets girl" concept. But it was really trying to be good, with the singing performances from Kelly Rowland at so-called award shows that felt like talent shows at a local elementary school. This whole film was elementary at best.

This was a very good movie. At first I bought it because I liked Kelly's acting and I wanted to support her, but if the truth be told--- she's a better actress than Beyonce! Acting seems natural to her (shout out for playing the role of a singer and not over doing it). I think that if a lot more people gave her a chance she could win an Oscar.Duane Martin is a struggling law student who takes a job as a seat filler to make in order to pay bills. He is distracted one at an awards ceremony when Kelly sits besides him. Not realizing how interested she is in him,he begins to go through tons of trouble to convince her that he is someone he isn't. This is a MUST SEE!