Product Description

Old and new world's collide when a young man newly signed to the NBA for thirty million dollars throws a cookout in his old neighborhood.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 22-AUG-2006
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #58531 in DVD
• Brand: JA RULE
• Released on: 2005-01-18
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 97 minutes

Amazon.com
Queen Latifah lends her comic sparkle to The Cookout, a new comedy she also helped conceive. Todd Anderson (Quran Pender) becomes a first draft pick in professional basketball and starts spending like there's no tomorrow; he buys a car, diamonds for his golddigging girlfriend (Meagan Good), and a huge house in a gated community. But though his life has been turned upside down, his family hasn't--and when everyone assembles in his new ritzy neighborhood for a celebratory cook-out, chaos follows. The Cookout is loaded with charismatic performers, such as Jenifer Lewis (Juwanna Mann) as Todd's no-nonsense mother, Eve (Barbershop) as his former best friend, Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon) as a new neighbor, and the aforementioned Latifah (Bringing Down the House) as an over-ambitious security guard. Unfortunately, the underdeveloped script gives them little to do and nowhere to go. Many lessons are learned, but few laughs are had. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Weak! Weak! Weak!
I can't even believe that folks actually thought this was a funny movie. It had a few moments, and I mean a few, but it just wasn't enough to justify paying 19 bucks for this. The concept was a good one cuz anybody in the african american community knows what it's like when we have "our" family cookouts anuually. However, along with a great idea came miscasting. For one, how does Ja Rule, Eve, or even Quran Pender (who I've never heard of) get casted for a movie like this when it's clear they cannot act. Meagan Good went from the cute sassy girl on Eve's Bayou to now playing hoochies on a regular? Secondly, how do you cast Queen Latifah, Danny Glover of all people, Farah Fawcett, Tim Meadows, and the beautiful Jennifer Lewis and Frankie Faison, all veteran actors and actresses who's been in the game a long long time and instead of creating a script and letting them enhance the script, Lance Rivera makes them look bufoonish. Well, there you have it, Lance "um" Rivera. Lance stick to making videos and leave the big screen to real directors. They should have never entrusted a cast that i just mentined to an amatuer like Rivera. A wasted script with quality actors and actresses. Yes, it's a matter of opinion and this opinion states that this movie stinks.

"The Cookout" is not that fulfilling.
This movie did not deliver. I love black comedy like the "Friday" movies (except for the last one) but this was NOTHING like Friday. In fact, it was extra lame. There were a few funny scenes but not the way you want them to be. 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 have 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. That old man with a stick was kind of goofy. I mildly enjoy Queen Latifah though, even in a ridiculously written role she was believable and hilarious at times. She at least made it worth my time. I will say Tim Meadows was the highlight of the movie and his lines totaled approximately 5 minutes of dialogue.

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. Those grotesque fat twins were annoying. The pot smoking scene with them and Mertaw was horrendous. I was disgusted with the way they looked and acted. Ja Rule was very annoying as Bling Bling and his sidekick was just as awful. The dude Big Pu//y from The Sopranos was OK as a doo doo salesman. Rapper Storm P (aka Quran Pender) as Todd Anderson who played the young, newly-drafted NBA star did a pretty decent job in his role. Eve finally play a sweet character. For a hardcore rapper who always plays tough minded characters, it was nice to see her lovable and supple but the time she spent on the screen looked more like a cameo.

"The Cookout" has more flaws then virtues, and it will certainly offend anybody concerned with improving the image of African Americans, but it does have its brief moments but I won't recommend this being that it's unrealistic and forgettable.

One of the worst movies I've ever seen....
This movie was so bad that I got up and left the theatre before it was over. To call this movie boring would be an insult to boring movies. So many talented actors, so little entertainment. Please don't waste your time on this one. You'll probably come out better watching paint dry. Believe me, that would be far more entertaining.