The Cookout (2004)

This movie was a disgrace. It was racist towards more than just black people. I mean, seriously, I'm black and I have never seen a black mama behave the way the character was portrayed. She was always going off at the mouth and nothing she said was believable or fully in character. I really just wanted to jump out of my seat and dropkick the screen by the time the cliché "homosexual" chefs made their "dramatic exit". But instead I settled for launching into conversation with my nearest neighbor. All of the white characters were unbelievable, the father was a disgrace, and the entire movie was just pitiful.And I've never been to a cookout where they served chitterlings. It's too dang on hot in the summer to be eating chitterlings or collard greens. I did rather enjoy Queen Latifah though, even in a ridiculously written role she was believable and hilarious. She made it worth my while.

First, I'd like to start of by saying I'm black. So I took especial dislike to this film along with the regular dislike due to the absolute horridness of this movie. I can imagine the conversation at the studios regarding this mess of a movie...Exec 1: Hey, I've got a great idea for a movie. Exec 2: Shoot Exec 1: Well, it's going to aimed at the black community. So it'll make money without us having to spend money. Exec 2: Or use creativity! Exec 1: Exactly. We use the Black movie formula. Number one, find a topic that the black "community" can relate to. You, know, something that's solely afrocentric. Like "da hood", or rap, or dancing, or how "da sistas" play games with men, or basketballs, or like... a cookout! Number 2, stuff a bunch a race relation jokes in it and pass it off as comedy. Number 3, get one good actor, a rapper, and a white person (you know, so the race relation jokes seem at least semi-relevant), then get a bunch of no name actors. And number 4, put some type of easily grasp high concept, like family or community. And wa la! You've got a movie that'll make money without the makers putting anything (and I mean anything) into it! Exec 2: It's gold!Unfunny, uninspiring, unoriginal, and insulting to your intelligence whether you're black, white, Asian, native American, Arabic, south Asian, Hispanic or pacific islander, but especially if your black. This is what Hollywood thinks black people want. Mindless entertainment that panders to their race. And frankly, it makes me angry. The story was uneven, the jokes failed to illicit even a chuckle, the acting is bad, and the "high concept" was lost in the swirling mass of awful that was this movie.A complete and utter waste of time.

I had very high hopes for The Cookout. I fancy myself a conesiuer of urban comedies. This movie was a triumph on par with Soul Plan and Breakin' All the Rules. It had everything you'd expect from a comedic genre that makes getting out of bed in the morning all the easier. From stereotypes to musical interludes by Kool and the Gang and Lakeside, The Cookout is a tour de force. Finally, I have followed the career of one of Hollywood's brightest stars Danny Glover. I've seen Predator 2 and Operation Dunbo Drop and was entirely aware of how multi talented Mr. Glover was, but like a fine bottle of Mad Dog 20/20 Mr. Gover has only gotten better with age. Danny Glover plays a well-to-do public servant who attains the paragon of a black man's fantasies, marrying a white women, Farrah Fawcet (you may remember her from the JTT classic Man of the House). Glover truly is the personifaction of the oreos he so loves snacking on in the movie. However, his urban roots are soon replanted and a new, better, And 1 mix tape Danny Glover is born. A truly gifted actor portraying a truly inspired role. I encourage anyone to treat themselves to a ninety minutes of pure bliss and watch The Cookout.

This movie is very so-so.(i.e. the acting, directing, story)This movie has a lot of dislikeable characters the first moment you see them which made this movie a little hard to watch. Also a lot of streotypes of whites. I was surprised I didn't see any watermelon eating in this movie. The plot is, a basketball player (Storm P) wants to have the annual family cookout in his new house surrounded by "WHITE PEOPLE" who believe he is a "GANG BANGER". His mother (Jennifer Lewis) was the first dislikeable character to me. Because she is always yapping her mouth like she does in every movie shes in. This movie also did not flow well. For example, something could be happening and then maybe one character has to leave and go do something. They never show what happens after that character does after. It was like this movie had a thousand deleted scenes.Just like Johnson Family Vacation, which was a bad movie cause it was trying to be a National Lampoon film.In summary, it was a lot worse than I expected. I think Storm P(Quran Pender), Ja Rule, Queen Latifah, & Tim Meadows kept this movie watchable. 6/10 **