The five minutes' worth of footage of veteran and modern-day hip-hop musicians discussing their history and craft that kicks off "Brown Sugar" is far more interesting than anything that follows.

Otherwise, this urban-oriented comedy-drama is little more than a knock-off of both "When Harry Met Sally" and "Love & Basketball" — and a rather lethargic one at that.

Worse, the film has several opportunities to allow for lengthy performances by hip-hop artists but instead chooses to concentrate on its painfully clich�d "are they friends or are they lovers?" story line.

That main plot thread involves music journalist Sidney Shaw (Sanaa Lathan) and would-be music producer Dre Ellis (Taye Diggs), with whom she's been friends for more than 20 years (they bonded as children because of their love of hip-hop).

But their relationship takes a turn for the worse when she comes back to New York to take over a music magazine and discovers that Dre, who's working at a record label, is going to marry Reese (Nicole Ari Parker). The reunion between the two friends makes Sidney aware of deeper feelings — and does the same for Dre, judging by the brief exchange they have just before his bachelor party.

Where this is going is much too obvious and needlessly drawn-out (and it helps a film that's less than two hours feel considerably longer). Much of the blame falls to co-screenwriter Rick Famuyiwa for his lazy direction.

Even the stars aren't at their best. Lathan shows only flashes of her usual charm, while Diggs seems to be sleepwalking through most of the film.

And all things said, the most interesting plot development is the tentative romance between supporting characters musician Mos Def, as a would-be emcee, and Queen Latifah, who plays Sidney's brash cousin.

"Brown Sugar" is rated PG-13 for occasional use of strong profanity (including one usage of the so-called "R-rated" curse word); crude sexual humor, sex talk and other sexual references; brief sexual contact, brief violence (athletic) and use of racial epithets. Running time: 108 minutes.

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E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com