First there was the rom-com. Then the zom-rom-com. Now we have the world’s first obam-rom-com. That characterization may not be entirely fair but it as effective a quick description as can be applied. Southside With You is a romantic drama, hemmed with political hues and tempered with racial tribunals though it may be, that stars Parkey Sawyers and Tika Sumpter as the to-be 44th POTUS and his First Lady respectively that sees Barack woo the future Mrs. Obama over the course of one fated-in-the-stars totally-not-a-date.

In this regard, first-time director and screenwriter Richard Tanne strives to emulate the real-time flirtatious chronology of Richard Linklater’s Before series. To address the immediate 200-pound gorilla in the room: Does his feature reach heights similar to Linklater’s acclaimed romantic classes? In a word, no. Nor is it a shameless retread either. But even when you strip away the inherently arresting mythologizing of the Obama family assembling, Southside with You contains a compassionate portrait of headstrong lovebirds wielding their intelligence as weapons; waxing on their families, careers and Chi-Town, addressing racial and gender injustices all with the silver-tongued Obama questing for the romantic affection of the hesitant Michelle. That being said, is there enough in Southside to justify its existence sans the Obama element? Probably not.

As Obama, Sawyers is well cast. Chain-smoking and smooth-talking, this wife-beater-wearing brother is an unfamiliar shade of intelligentsia, pouring over a Toni Morrison novel between drags of Pall Mall and infamous for showing up to things a good tick beyond tardy. He’s a man whose father’s ghost hangs heavily from his squared shoulder and Tanne’s injection of daddy issues into Southside‘s mainfest makes for some of the more interesting interplay between his version of Obama and the stoic President who the world is so familiar with. Sawyers has a sharp command over Obama’s distinct cadence and wears a similarly angular bone structure but his portrait extends beyond mere impersonation to create a nuanced characterization of a near mythical man. It’s the emotional holed up in Sawyer’s dark pupils that lends his Obama both intelligence and sincerity and the unproved thespian bleeds both.

The day begins as Michelle dolls herself up in the mirror. Her preening mother clarifies, “I thought you said this wasn’t a date?” It’s not, Michelle preaches, as much to herself as her pestering family. And eventually Barack himself. This becomes her mantra, a narrowly-focused through line for the hardworking Michelle, who at the time served as Obama’s advisor at a relatively conservative corporate law firm. She wants to keep their relationship professional but has agreed to accompany the young buck Barack to a community event, against her better judgment. Michelle feels slighted when a grinning Obama reveals that the event isn’t until later in the evening so they’ll have to spend the day together doing date-like things like sightseeing and grabbing lunch.

Together they peruse cassette tapes at the cart of a street hawker, examine an African-influenced art exhibit and attend that promised community gathering centered around the city counsel denying an urban community center that their children so badly need. Their like-mindedness ebbs in and out with Barack serving as the hopefully idealist and Michelle the combat-worn pragmatist. They each see flashes of a counterpart in one another, deny it though Michelle attempts to, but as she attempts to shoo away any feelings, the headstrong Barack paints their common interests and passions as prophecy of a should-be relationship. Everything comes to a head when Obama gives a speech reminiscent of those that defined him in the 2008 election, one which craftily turns the politician’s rejection of “NO” into “Carry ON”. His message of hope within disparity is one of a great orator fine-tuning himself and it makes for an interesting time capsule of a man perfecting the craft he’s still known for today.

Sumpter makes for a strong Michelle, even when her over-enunciation threatens to become a SNL-level tic. She’s a woman who has attempted to define herself by her exemplary work ethic and standout accomplishments but has been unable to buck the social pariah of her minority status. Her career is beset on all sides by those who see her first as a woman and second as a black and this is in large part responsible for her rejection of the eager Barack. She must scrap and scratch to the tip-top if only to be on par with her white male counterparts and a romantic association with an interior who only tarnish her uneasy career standing. Following a screening of Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing”, Michelle runs into a partner at her law firm who refuses to credit Michelle with being the best, or even good, at her job. Rather, he condescendingly refers to her as “tenacious” before launching into a full-blown brown-nosing of the “ambitious” Barack. It’s almost uncomfortable how relevant this 1989 scene remains today.

I admire Southside With You’s impetus to marry the racial issues plaguing late-80s Chicago with the current (largely unchanged) state of broader racial politics as well as its on-the-nose tackling of gender issues but it’s the little moments, like Barack buying Michelle a chocolate ice cream cone (her favorite flavor) that really defines Tanne’s picture. Much like chocolate ice cream, its familiarity is largely pleasant, if relatively non-threatening, but doesn’t contain the dramatic heft to change anyone’s fixed political or ideological stances. Having said that, the fact that the first real Barack Obama biopic is a one-date romantic drama is still kind of amazing.

CONCLUSION: There’s something very charming about peeling back the curtain of the Michelle-Barack romance and being privy to their quaint off-the-record moments that makes ‘Southside With You’ so watchable. That there isn’t a ton to it once you strip away the Obama element – aside from some rather on-the-nose social commentary – should credit the massive appeal of its subjects rather than detract from its comfortable stance as a soft-gummed biopic.