The movie is a spinoff from a book written in 2014 by the brilliantly, savvy, Demetria Lucas. It’s a Q&A called “Don’t Waste Your Pretty: The Go to Guide for Making Smarter Decisions in Love & Life,” compiling queries and resolutions about the dating game from the experiences and perspective of about 2000 men and women.
"The movie “Don’t Waste Your Pretty” is directed by Tamara Bass and written by Katrina O’Gilvie(“Behind the Movement”; nominee for NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Television Movie, Limited Series or Dramatic Special)."
Summary of Main Characters:
Keri Hilson is a spectacular singer and songwriter. It was beautiful seeing her spread those metamorphic wings like a butterfly, and tapping into her acting skills, especially since she's leading lady. We get to see more of her compared to her previous cameos that don't serve her justice. Starring role suits her even if her character is a bit lost...
Deborah Joy Winans, she can do no wrong in my eyes. None. Viewers that followed her as Charity Grace in OWN Networks Greenleaf, loved her as the emotional wreckage that she was on-screen, where she bounced from spaces of instability that only a PK (Preachers Kid) and middle child could drum up. She watered down the crazy just enough to show how damaged people act, that's on the verge of healing in this romantic/drama/comedy.
Redaric Williams is always the attractive and debonair businessman, who's a classic Casanova. There's absolutely no way that he could fail in this new new flick, because he's done the character hundreds of times in different installments unabashed. He's the new age Morris Chestnut. Don't fight me on this. It is what it is. No debating.
So, let’s get into it. Black Love..
The movie hits differently than the book. The story focuses on framily (decoded: family and friends), love, balance, and healing, where twins Mykah (Keri Hilson) and Michael (Redaric Williams), are both successful businesspeople.
Mykah is slow in the area of love, God bless her goofy little heart. She’s been out of touch so long that she doesn’t vibe with anyone and she’s socially awkward. Mykah is completely unaware that she’s an amazing catch. Mykah doesn’t think she’s beautiful or good enough to date (maybe she doesn't care) whereas her brother Michael, is the compete opposite. He’s a womanizer with a conscious. I know, it sounds weird when you read it, but its true. He’s a womanizer, who’s after one person, Jeanné (Deborah Joy Winans).
Michael dates multiple women and he doesn’t take any of them seriously, except for the one, Jeanné. Michael loved Jeanné from the moment he laid eyes on her, at least he thinks that he does. However, Jeanné is a fickle beauty who’s been washed and hung out to dry. Her previous marriage left her with a glaring resentment—she’s damaged and on reserve. Jeanné doesn’t know how to let anyone get next her. She comes with the baggage of learning to love herself. Loving self, that develops in stages especially after being in a bad relationship, which means that it’s extremely challenging cozying up with another person. It’s almost like being reborn, but you come with stipulations, and your love comes with stipulations the next time around. Remeber in the olden days when women wore chastity belts, and they kept their persons under lock and key (imagine it being their heart), preventing them from having relations before marriage? This is the dilemma that Michael faces when he finally gets ahold of Jeanné. It’s worse for Michael because he is a longstanding family/ friend who’s waited years for Jeanné. She’s the woman of his dreams. This is where the story gets interesting, because you’re lured into the dynamics and reasoning that Michael and Jeanné are so close to begin with, and it’s extremely complicated. Very. They’re like… stepbrother and sister. Eek!
Then, there’s the two friends, who are life partners, Aisha (Jasmine Burch) and Amina (Kay Singleton). They want to adopt a child. They also want a marriage bejeweled in absolute perfection, and that’s where their struggles exist like most people wanting to live a perfect lifestyle that’s anything but perfect.
DON'T WASTE YOUR PRETTY follows a group of tightly knit friends as they sort out their turbulent life issues and love lives - always turning to one another to figure out their next move when jobs, romance or family interactions prove more complicated than they had ever anticipated. The film is based on the eponymous novel penned by award-winning author and media personality Demetria L. Lucas. The cast of DON'T WASTE YOUR PRETTY includes Keri Hilson ("Think Like A Man," "Almost Christmas"), Redaric Williams ("The Yard," "The Young And The Restless"), Deborah Joy Winans ("Greenleaf"), Jasmine Burke ("Saints & Sinners"), Kaye Singleton ("American Soul") and Rainey Branch ("Being Mary Jane," "Grey's Anatomy"). DON’T WASTE YOUR PRETTY premieres on Sunday, February 28, 2021 at 8 p.m./7C on TV One.