The Cookout (2004)

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 Amazon.com

"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.
November 11, 2006

More like a washed out cookout...

this movie was far from funny...the jokes were corny and predictable, many scenes were stereotypical and played out. The was a good storyline and the writer could've done much better with it than resort to the corny jokes and stereotypes. Stay away from this movie at all costs...don't pay for it or rent it...catch it on cable like I did. Now I know why this tanked at the movies... August 1, 2006

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. July 16, 2006

y r movie voters underrating this movie this was alright

i have seen 3/4 of the movie and let me tell u it was just as funny as other underappreciate movies soul plane and johnson vacation one of my favorite parts of cookout is when legendary actor danny glove played uncle tom who had a white wife who was the 1970s sex symbol lady from charlie's angels but after he gets high with two overweight boys in the basement during the cookout he turned black again and changed his gear from classy to wearing a hip hop sweat suit the white guy from decan of defense was in this movie he was funny as cartoon network who was the talented sports agent of the high school kid who signed a 30 million dollar contract to play in the nba queen l was in this movie she played a crazy security guard that did everything by the lawbook she even tried to cancel the barbecue because they was breaking all the rules from the book the average looking guy who i kinda of use to have a crush on from cousin skeeter was the high school basketball player money digging girlfriend she wanted to be in control of everything another funny part of the movie is when her boyfriend's mom told her to get him some ham which was his favorite food the girlfriend had to drive an hour away from home she didn't do it for nothing the mother promised the girlfriend that her son who buy her something special when she gets back home when she came back home with the ham the mother told her that ham was fatfree she would the girlfriend to get ham that contain a lot of fat and juice in it so she told the girlfriend she had to go back and get another ham that contain a lot of calories in it when she came back home again the mom said no this ham has bones in she said u no my son does not like bones in his food she told the girl she had to drive 25 movies to get a butcher to cut the bones off or out of the ham one of my favorite characters in the movie was the lawyer who failed the bar test 16 times and explained his knowledge of failing the test each time to everyone during the cookout and he even was not a real lawyer ja rule was a little funny in this movie he played a gangsta who had a silly minded friend they both had a pair of expensive fancy sneakers they were trying to sell to i guess the 30 million dollar high school kid so they both could become rich when the family was having dinner after the cookout ja rule and his sidekick went to their home and tried to rob it but were unsucessful because the future nba player boy remembered him from high school called ja rule by his movie last name which had everybody around the dinner table laughing out loud ja tried to explained that his last name was a west africa name double threat talented star female rapper and actress eve made a special guest appearance toward the late middle to the end of the movie and queen l mother also co starred in the cookout who was just as funny as queen June 8, 2006

The Best Burgers I have ever tasted

I read everyone's review.
Yes. I know its "stereotyped" and "predictable" but it doesn't mean its not funny. I went out to blockbuster and rented this movie. When I came back, my friends groaned.
"Thats the blackest movie ever!" "You should have played it save and rented Dude Where's My Car." But in the end, everyone loved it. Brittany does get VERY annoying, and one of the best parts of the whole movie is the security guard and the Crowley's.
The things in between. Name any other movie that has a full throttle security guard who cleans her glass and kisses it everyday. Now, we watch this movie all the time. March 10, 2006

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