Review: ‘The Photograph’ develops nicely into a fine film

This Valentine’s Day, there’s certain to be the usual flood of candy and flowers. But at your local movie theater, there’s something increasingly rare: A soulful and adult romantic drama in “The Photograph.” Issa Rae and Lakeith Stanfield star as tentative, would-be lovers in modern-day New York. The film takes turns switching eras to tell each woman’s story — from New York’s trendy whiskey bars and the sleek leather couches of upscale apartments to the faded grandeur of New Orleans in the 1980s. “She was just a woman with flaws.” Some of the best scenes are when the daughter unknowingly finds herself following in the same physical footsteps as her mom some 40 years later — the same kitchen, the same darkroom, and even to the same swanky but crumbling New Orleans lounge, up the same winding staircase to cuddle with her own love interest. Smaller parts in the film are filled with real skill, especially by Lil Rel Howery, who plays Michael’s brother with what seems a comedian’s effortless lightness, and Y’Lan Noel and Rob Morgan, who each play the former lover of Mae’s mother in the different eras.