Gerald Wright's Movie Coverage
WELCOME HOME ROSCOE JENKINS
Directed by: Malcolm D. Lee
Running time: 1 hour 54 minutes
Release date: February 8, 2008
Genre: Comedy
Distributor: Universal Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13
What happens when you place four of the funniest people in front of a movie camera? You get a hilarious film. The director/screenplay writer Lee and Aisha Coley cast a comedy team consisting of Martin Lawrence, Mike Epps, Mo'Nique and Cedric the Entertainer in a laugh a minute romp about a man going back to his roots.
Martin Lawrence leads this cast as a TV talk show host named Dr. RJ Stevens/Roscoe Jenkins, Jr. He's a self-help moderator in the world of television. Dr. RJ Stevens/Roscoe Jenkins, Jr. lives with a foxy girlfriend named Bianca Kittles (Joy Bryant) who is an aggressive and shallow reality show winner, and his young son from another woman. Life is great for wealthy RJ and his fans adore him, but all that changes when he receives an invitation to his father Roscoe Jenkins, Sr. (James Earl Jones) and mother Mama Jenkins' (Margaret Avery) 50th anniversary back home in rural Dry Springs, Georgia. RJ is reluctant, because there are a few bad feelings between family members, but he gives in to the pleading of his son and girlfriend.
RJ's family reunion picked up from where he left it when he decided to leave home to become a celebrity. His strained competitive relationship with his cousin Clyde (Cedric the Entertainer) never ended from their childhood. His older sister Betty (Mo'Nique) was still rowdy and chasing men. His big and brawny older brother Sheriff Otis Jenkins (Michael Clarke Duncan) was as authoritative as he left him. His mother was still the sweet woman he remembered, but his father was never the man to give RJ any praise. In fact, RJ was known as a failure in his home town and second best. He even lost out on his first love Lucinda (Nicole Ari Parker). And last of all in this strange and ridiculously funny family is RJ's misguided cousin Reggie who always has a scheme in progress. His return home was his way of showing off his success and his trophy fiancee, but things quickly change for the worst and made this movie a non stop laugh-a-thon.
The qualities that make a good comedian are timing and a sense of irony. What makes a good comedy are dialogue, a familiar story that an audience can relate to, restraint (if you're not the only comedian in the scene), performances, a sense of balance (not pushing a joke or funny scene too far to lose its value) and consistency. In this very funny and raunchy film, these talented comedians shared the material and jokes equally, which I found extremely funny. The use of reaction shots such as "slap-stick" was brilliant and clever. James Earl Jones and Margaret Avery as Dad and Mom Jenkins played the "straight men" and added the mixture of naturalism with surrealism which gave the film a sense of believability. Mo'Nique as always was amazingly funny, while Mike Epps stole many scenes with his quick wit. The chemistry, acting and dialogue between Martin Lawrence and Cedric the Entertainer was a mark of genius from casting. These two exceptionally talented men complimented each other in each funny scene. As the antics carried on throughout the movie, the plot kept a main theme of overcoming obstacles and reinstating family values.
This is a great form of escapism in cinema. I had fun.
FILM RATING (B)
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