When her husband keels over from a stroke, Raynelle Slocumb calls the entire clan together to remember their dearly departed. Family tensions reach a comedic boil as the wildly dysfunctional Slocumbs squabble and fight their way to the funeral.
Reviews
This movie was outstanding. It was very funny, and very similar to the play. It only added or changed dialog in a few places, and it was always an improvement over the (already amazing)play.The cast was one of the if not the best ever assembled for a movie. LL Cool J is an even better actor than Rapper and gives an AMAZING performance. Jada Pinkett Smith is very talented and funny. As is the (always) hilarious Anthony Anderson. I could go on and on but there is no need- this classic film speaks for itself and in my opinion is one of the greatest movies ever made. (top 20 easily) (yes of all time). If you have not seen this you MUST see it immediately!
Spoilers herein.It must be quite a challenge to create films to feed a distinct audience of any kind. You can only go so far with stories about gangstas, earnest kid transcends the ghetto, black dating plots, Eddie Murphy farts, and Denzel `pride' movies. This at least attempts to be respectful, working to tread the line between poking fun and building warm appreciation. The makers of this treaded so carefully, they made a film so tepid it is unwatchable. Thats the dilemma. Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 4: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
This movie has good intentions, but falls a little short due to the execution of the plot. I'm not going to go into the whole storyline, as by now you probably already know. What I do want to say is it's good to have a decent black movie make it to the theater and do fairly well. Besides Soul Food, this is the only other feel good black family movie that has been released in the last 5 years. It's a shame it didn't do that well at the box office. It could be because of the nature of the film or the lackluster storyline. Whatever the case may be, it was worth watching at least once. There are some very funny parts in this film and the acting was decent. I was surprised to see Toni Braxton in this film. She actually did a pretty good job. LL Cool J needs to find his nitch. I think he's still looking for it. I liked him in Deep Blue Sea, but Rollerball was a mess. Whoopie only had a small part, but she really helped the movie along. Overall I give it 6 out of 10.
The acting was mediocre, the plot was stupid, and the humor was distasteful. I can't remember laughing ONCE. It's basically a movie about low-lives scrambling around, threatening to kill each other and yell at each other. Most of the movie has nothing to do with the man who died, but rather with the dysfunctional lives of his family. I give this movie a D- and highly recommend to not come within 100 feet of this movie.
