The Cookout

I once read that if you want to watch a movie and just to be entertained, then take your brain out and relax. I thought this movie would fit into this category. When I first saw the trailers, and bits and pieces of the movie I thought it was worth watching. So I did. To be honest I was disappointed.

With all of the big names like Danny Glover, Farrah Fawcett, Jenifer Lewis, Queen Latifah, and Frankie Faison to name a few, I had thought this would be great. At best I felt the movie was slow and the lines delivered as if they were being read.

As for the morality of the movie, one could argue it set the tone for being responsible about money. But I also saw a contradiction in moral and racial issues. The first issue is the smoking of marijuana. To see a "judge", Danny Glover smoking it, what does this say about the real world? The movie played on the fears of predominately white segregated, walled communities. At least that part was true.

The third item was in regards to the black male and white female role in an interracial marriage. Why in the end was everyone happy to see Danny Glover (Judge Crowley) dominate his white wife, Farrah Fawcett (Mrs. Crowley), yet Frankie Faison (JoJo Anderson) is submissive to his wife Jenifer Lewis (Lady Em)? Does this mean that all black men in an interracial marriage should be "Master and Commander?" Does this state that black men marry outside of their race because the black woman is too strong and dominant? Does this mean that all white females become submissive when dominated by a black man? I don't think so as I am in an interracial marriage and took offense to those messages.

With the above aside, I took my brain out and tried to just be entertained. I laughed through a few parts, and the rest of the plot I could see through. Would I see it again? Maybe.

I had expected more with all of the big names and maybe this is the problem.

I have to agree with most of the previous comments, here, that this movie will most likely be pretty offensive to most black viewers. It's loaded with stereotypes and predictable humor.

That aside, I did get a chuckle out of a few of the characters. Tim Meadows' conspiracy whacko character was twisted and amusing. Meadows has a talent for subtle humor with over-the-top characters. This sounds like a contradiction, but it isn't. Danny Glover gets a few laughs in as the heavily "ball & chained" neighbor. It helps that his ball in chain happens to be Farrah Fawcett, I suppose. Both Mr. Meadows and Mr. Glover's characters were somewhat stereotypical and unoriginal, but both actors made them work, because they're pros.

I found Jennifer Lewis' character to be intensely annoying. She was supposed to come off as "strong" and as the pillar of the family, but if I had a parent like her, I'd go to huge lengths to avoid her. Just watching her in a movie made me uncomfortable. I'm surprised that Todd's prospective client didn't head for the hills, immediately.

This movie has more flaws then virtues, and it will certainly offend anybody concerned with improving the image of African Americans, but it does have it's brief moments. Wait for it on cable and watch it for free, when there's nothing else on.

i saw it the first night, for queen's first movie (that she produced) it was OK but i know her talent from previous movies and it could have been better. but i think that the main focus she was going for that family should always stick together. no matter how rich or poor you are your family will always be there for you. don't every let anyone or anything make you change for the worse. money isn't everything, it can't play you happiness. that you find with those you love and those who love you back for you and nothing else. like the character's best friend who always watch his games. his girlfriend was only in it for the money like most females are but his best friend was there before it all started and she loved him for just him.

The movie had a good message about being responsible and down to earth even after hitting pay dirt. But, the message was nearly drowned in the cheesy delivery. As a result, this ethnic comedy comes off somewhat spoofish because of the mugging and overacting (which obviously was on purpose).

I think of The Cookout (2004) as (one of the characters in the movie so aptly put it) a "Black Beverly Hillbillies," like the TV series The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) that was definitely satirical. Although it is true that the stereotypes were carried to the extreme, which explains why some viewers are offended by the material, the same could be said of other spoofs, which purposely border on the ridiculous.

The Cookout (2004) is okay to rent, if you take if for what it is.

You know, this would have been a good TV movie.

The Cookout is a pretty lame comedy that really delivers nothing new. #1 NBA draft pick Todd Anderson's star is on the ascendant after signing to his home team, the New Jersey Nets. Trying to stay grounded in reality, he throws a big barbecue for his family, not realizing that mixing them with his new agents and reps might lead to a crazy afternoon. The plot is fairly simple, something similar to the Barbershop films. The Cookout fails to be like Barbershop though. Everyone that's at the cookout is a stereotype. The filmmakers apparently were trying to include every stereotype about blacks possible. The script is very weak and needed a lot of work. The acting wasn't very good either with the best being Queen Latifah. She is pretty much the only saving grace in this film. However, her role in this film is small and its hard to believe she helped with the writing. Tim Meadows and Danny Glover are also pretty good but they can't save this film. Other people worth mentioning are Meagan Good and Jonathan Silverman. Ja Rule does a terrible job and he pretty much kills the film. Farrah Fawcett is in the film for some reason and she does a decent job. Everyone else is very annoying and do a bad job of acting. On a side note, Queen Latifah's mom has a role and Eves role is more or a cameo. Lance Rivera directs his first film and hopefully he can improve. Barbershop talked about important issues however, The Cookout didn't as it just had cheap laughs and it was a pretty boring film. The runtime is only 97 minutes long. Even with the short runtime it drags a lot and most of the film is pretty unrealistic. The Cookout is defiantly not worth watching unless your really, really big fans of anyone involved. Rating 3/10, a boring and forgettable film.