‘The Photograph’ is this year’s Valentine movie, and it is a little different from the Fifty Shades franchise films, which dominated V Day weekend past couple of years.  is it a step up? I don’t know. At least the fifty shades movies had a little bit of camp factor. For a Hearts Day movie, I want something that will sweep me off my feet, and make me want to fall in love, or reminisce about an old one. Sad to say, I didn’t feel that after seeing this film.

I mean, the film is okay. It tells two parallel love stories – one in present day between Mae (Issa Rae) and Michael (LaKeith Stanfield) and also of Christine, Mae’s mom who just passed away. her story is from the 90s, and tells of a photographer who moved to New York City from Louisiana. Christine’s narrative is a little more compelling and interested in me more, and I like its old-fashioned vibe, a less melodramatic romantic pot boiler. Mae’s story serves no purpose, and Rae has such a cold screen presence that I lost interest in the film whenever she was on (Stanfield fared bit better) All in all, this wasn’t bad, but it didn’t really excite me as I thought it would.