With
a premise that would probably have worked better on a TV sitcom than
as a major motion picture, The Cookout is a
well-intentioned attempt to make a heartfelt family comedy showcasing
the rich variety of African-American archetypes. Sadly, these
archetypes end up depicted more as stereotypes, as there isn't a
single character that remotely approaches multi-faceted, each written
to offer their one or two moments of humor and nothing else.
Take the character of Grandpa, for instance. The man carries and
swings around a baseball bat, and won't give it up, no matter how many
people try to take it from him. In every scene, someone tries to
take it, and he adamantly refuses. Why is this funny?
Beats me. Why is he even in the movie? You got me there,
too. But then, he is only one of many characters I can't make
heads or tails of, either for their comedic merits or importance to
the overall story, in this extremely unfocused and amateurish effort
that barely gets by on general affability.
The plot, if
you can claim this has one, is thinner than the paper it was written
on. Basketball player Todd Anderson (Pender)) becomes the #1
draft choice, signing to a team and earning a $30 million contract.
To celebrate, the family decides to throw their customary family
cookout. Meanwhile, Todd has been spent a great deal of money on
a new house, clothes, and bling bling for his entire family, and his
gold digging girlfriend (Meagan Good,
Deliver Us
from Eva), so his agent (Silverman) promises to try to land
him an endorsement deal to help cover the finances. Wouldn't you
know it, a representative from a large cell phone provider is on her
way on the very same day that Todd's large, loud and embarrassingly
eccentric family is having their cookout.
The plot above
might have worked if first-time director Lance Rivera
could have spent more time trying to solidify the plot, and less time
letting this cast of actors run rampant on the story. Everything
is played in over-the-top fashion, as if the funny quotient were
directly correlated with how loud or silly one says each line.
The only thing even resembling a plot, the representative coming to
potentially sign Todd to the endorsement deal, is completely ignored
throughout 90% of the film, leaving the film without a discernable
build-up or climax. With three people coming up with the idea
for the story (including co-star Queen Latifah (Barbershop
2), and three other screenwriters actually penning the script,
you'd think multiple plot developments and well-rounded characters
would be guaranteed. However, not a single one of them, the
director or any of the writers, has any prior experience, leaving the
character actors with little but to ham up each scene as much as
possible to try to give us some indication that things are going on,
and that what is going on is supposed to be funny.
Long before
the end of the film, you come to the realization that, unlike the
similar ensemble-driven comedy,
Barbershop,
this movie has no real inspiration involved in its conception, and the
creators didn't know where to go with it. Despite the title, the
film isn't even about the cookout, not really appearing until later in
the film, and when it does, not much is done with it. The only
idea kicked around was to try to stuff as many wildly stereotypical
characters into the movie as possible in the hopes that their
interaction would generate some easy laughs. To say this idea
never bore fruit would be an understatement. Without enough gas
to light the grill, this is an ill-prepared and undercooked concept
film that will only leave you hungrier for entertainment than you were
going in.
Qwipster's rating:
©2005 Vince Leo
