Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008)

I won't take Roscoe Jenkins home with me.
When I first saw the trailer for "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins," I thought it was going to be a great movie. I was ready for another nice, family get together romantic comedies after seeing "Dan In Real Life." After all, who wouldn't want to see a nice family get together romantic comedy. But I actually realized now that I was extremely wrong.

What the @$!% happened to Martin Lawrence? Sorry for the foul language back there, but what the hell happened to him? Wasn't he a really funny guy? He was terrible in "National Security" but turned out his brilliance in the original "Big Momma's House" movie. Yes, he had his moments in the sequel, but I couldn't stand "Big Momma's House 2," and I just happened to have thought the original "Big Momma's House" was so much better.

"Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins" actually proves that Martin Lawrence lost its edge and he was funny once. Sure, the movie is a great concept, but there's nothing you can expect from Martin Lawrence in his extremely ridiculous movie.

The film follows RJ Stevens whose a popular talk-show host and his fiance Bianca want to win a game of Survivor. Yet RJ Stevens and his fiance and son start to spend a four day weekend at his familys' place. Things start to go all wrong and off handy, but everything tries to shake up a bit. You know. Don't get me wrong. I did like the story, but everything else about the movie fails.

I couldn't really stand "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins." Maybe, I couldn't stand it at all. You have gotten Martin Lawrence in the film, but you also get good performances that go horribly wrong from Cedric the Entertainer, Mike Epps, James Earl Jones and Monique. Monique's disgusting thing in the shower to Mike Epps was even left out from the film.

Another thing that I couldn't stand about the film were the jokes. From the trailer, they did seem funny, but when I watched the movie, I realized that the jokes were forced. Taking things from "Meet the Parents." Taking a spoof storyline out of "Dan In Real Life" and "The Family Stone" and even forcing things from a scene from "Toy Story" and forcing most things from "Meatballs." There were a couple of original jokes that were just so-so, but overall the movie just gets wasted everytime it crumbles and cracks.

Yes let Roscoe Jenkins go home. But you know what, I won't take him to my home. I'd just drop him off at his place and leave him there. OK! Now I'm exaggerating. I would rather have my own family resemble "Dan In Real Life" than in this one, because this one just doesn't give me a resemblance.

"Where did we go wrong with that boy?"
RJ Stevens (Martin Lawrence) is the host of an irreverent and raunchy talk show in the sun-soaked state of California, and is engaged to "Survivor" contestant Bianca Kittles (Joy Bryant). One day, he recieves a phone call from his old parents (Margaret Avery, James Earl Jones), who ask him to come over for their 50th wedding anniversary. With them and his son Jamaal (Damani Roberts) goading him to go, he takes his clan to the Deep South, where old wounds are open, and a crush from the past (Nicole Ari Parker) returns to make RJ question if his glamorous life defines who he is.

I think "Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins" can be compared to Amanda Bynes films: they're really good, but they'll probably appeal to certain audiences and turn off the rest. It's also Martin Lawrence still looking for that "Get Out of Jail" card to apologize for the recent crap he shoved in our faces since the disastrous "Big Momma's House 2". And Malcolm D. Lee, brother of Spike Lee and the birth parent of the blaxploitation spoof/homage "Undercover Brother", is behind the lens. For me, I find the film to be immensely entertaining in a year that began with a couple of crappy films (J-horror films) and underwhelmingly overlooked gems (the new Rambo). And I can always live with that.

The film has been compared to the works of Tyler Perry, someone who makes the most headache-inducing films that African-Americans don't deserve, but see anyway. Here, Lee is looking to really go for broke with an impressive ensemble of comedians including Mike Epps (underwhelmingly underrated), Cedric the Entertainer (coming off the worst film of last year, "Code Name: The Cleaner"), and Mo'Nique (I won't go any further), while bringing in already successful actors like Michael Clarke Duncan (further sharpening his comedy skills post-"Talledega Nights" - who could forget the outtakes!), Margaret Avery (another student of the Ruby Dee school for lovable grandmothers) and James Earl Jones (always a pleasant appearance) to round out the cast.

With that list, how does the film fare? Oh, it's a funny one. While not a gut-buster (some scenes - including a race between RJ and Clyde - seem to drag on), there are a slew of funny scenes. Lee still hones his satirical vision from "UB", and sends up the talk circuit with a no-good cheater (newcomer - I think - Affion Crockett). When he moves on to the meat and bones of the film - the family reunion/anniversary - the film becomes a mixture of Adam Sandler-type schenanigans and urban sitcom wisecracks. That's not to say it's unfunny. You can thank scene stealers like Mo'Nique and Mike Epps for that job (ugh, the bathroom scene is priceless).

It all boils down to Lawrence, however. Still looking to get critics back on his graces after being dissed during the "Black Knight"-"BMH2" era, the comic actor decides to tone it down and play a humbled loser. That allows him to achieve good chemistry between all his co-stars, including a welcome appearance from Nicole Ari Parker, someone who hasn't been seen since the Anthony Anderson disaster, "King's Ransom" (three years were worth it, I might add).

The only problem with the film is its need to grow a heart while being a jovial walk in the park. It's no surprise, since Lee tried his hand at a coming-of-age film ("Roll Bounce"), but someone should've gave him a copy of "Old School", which maintained its funny bone the whole way through. It sort of causes "Welcome Home" to trip a bit, but doesn't derail the film completely. Compared to the recent crop of cruddy urban films released before, this brings back a bit of scrappy charm and respect that black or white audiences can enjoy.