Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins

Roscoe Jenkins has taken the name "RJ Stevens" and become a self-help guru with a book and talk show based on the premise "the team of me". He heads home accompanies by his self-absorbed fiancée, Bianca, who has the idea that they should record RJ's parent's 50th anniversary celebration.

At home, RJ's family does not treat him as the important semi-celebrity he is in LA but as the child who could never defeat his cousin Clyde in any competition and as the boy still under his parents' dominion at home. Roscoe's relatives played by James Earl Jones. Margaret Avery, Cedric the Entertainer, Mo'nique and Michael Clarke Duncan are all funny and good at puncturing the bubble of Roscoe's believed importance. Eventually Roscoe learns some important lessons about the importance of family and remaining connected to them and becomes the man his father has always wanted him to be. This is a decent, somewhat funny movie so it gets a grade of C+ and a moderate recommendation.

I must say I wasn't too excited when my hubby said "let's go see Roscoe Jenkins". But I must also say that I am glad we did. It was very funny and entertaining. The script was not as typical as movies such as This Christmas and I actually found the plot to be defined. Yes the risks were high enough and the acting was good. The comedy was cool, forced at times, but funny most of the time. The writing was pretty cool. I did not have high expectations for this film at first and I truly do not know why because I think Martin Lawrence is very talented and funny. He always makes me laugh. I'm just tired of seeing the same script a thousand times and this script was not the same script a thousand times. The message was also good and it was a breath of fresh air to see a film about a Black Man having a meaningful relationship with their Father. It was also good to see real actors and comedians and not musicians trying to act. This made a big difference. The only thing that needed work in this movie was the cinematography. I felt as if the cinematographer was trying to sabotage the movie with extremely unnecessary shots. I could not understand how someone who has experience shooting many movies could shoot so many scenes out of FOCUS!. Overall, it is an excellent film with many funny moments. Family can definitely go and see it even though it has some riskier shots and language.

Theres always something about theres esemble family together comedy films that just work and this one is up there with some of the funniest. Martin lawrence plays Rj a host of his own show that goes back home for this parents 50th anniversary along with son jamaal and his pretty uptight and annoying fiance bianca. We might one of my favourite characters in the town. Rjs cousin reggie, played by the funny mike eeps his especially good with his manarism's and overall his just pretty good. The rest of his family are played well and all the cast brought something well to them. Overall this film does not have any dull moments and its just a pretty great film.

Successful Talk Show Host RJ (Lawrence) is besieged to come back home for his parents' 50th Wedding Anniversary.

I was skeptical, I was wary, I wasn't sure, but this time the promos didn't let me down. This was good. Since the basic theme was a grand family reunion, you know the usual obligatory things will be performed, a softball game, (with other families it may be a touch football game), an obstacle course (okay, this is a new one that I've witnessed, but there you are) and other family things, etc. Nothing new here. But, what keeps this movie fresh is the quick and lively dialogue from all the cast. It didn't feel scripted. It was like eavesdropping on the goings on and the timing, by all, was excellent. And, you know you need good timing when slap-stick comedy is performed. Also, the music throughout was perfect.

This was without a doubt a cast of characters, and not your usual every day family members and each character member had his or her own shtick and this helped make this a fun movie.

Joy Bryant who played Bianca must have gone to the Molly Sims School of Acting because I kept seeing and hearing Ms. Sims whenever Ms Bryant was on screen. Hey, this is a good thing, not a criticism. She was good. Nicole Ari Parker who played Lucinda is absolutely beautiful. I am sure we will see more of these two women in future movies.

It is indeed rare that promos deliver when it comes to comedy, but this time they did. How about that!

Violence: Yes, family fighting stuff, Sex: Yes, Dog Sex: Yes, two go at it. Nudity: No, Language: Yes, some, not much

Last year when I saw the trailer for Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins, I wasn't expecting much, I'm not a fan by any means with Martin Lawrence. When I looked at the rating here on IMDb at the time of it's theatrical release, it was low, I wasn't sure if that's because people just had low expectations or if it really was that bad of a movie. So I decided to wait for the rental. Well I watched it the other day and honestly Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins is not as bad as I was expecting, I laughed more than a few times. I think the problem with it is that we have all seen this film before. The script is also semi-insulting with the stereotypes, so I can understand why a lot of people hate this movie, but I think everyone just needs to let go with this film while watching it. The story is typical but you have to admit there are some good laughs in it.

Roscoe Jenkins is a very successful man, he's a host of a new talk show and author of a self help book, everyone loves him pretty much, including his Survivor wanna be star fiancée, Bianca. But when his son wants to go to his family's big BBQ reunion down in Atlanta, Roscoe decides that it's time for them to meet his new fiancée and life. But what Bianca is not expecting is his crazy family that will just drive them crazy. But Roscoe sees an old crush with his "brother like" enemy, Clyde, flames spark up again, questioning what Roscoe's true roots are.

While Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins is typical, has some interesting cast members, and can be a bit insulting, I still feel like this movie really didn't mean to hurt anyone, just to have fun and deliver a few laughs. Like I said, just this movie has been done before so many times with the crazy family and you can predict what will happen at the end, but still, I enjoyed this movie and thought it was fun at best. Just the only thing I didn't get was how the whole family picked on him about his success, I mean, I'd get into his good graces to share some that fun money he must be rolling around in, lol. But I would recommend this movie, just you have to be open to it and just have fun, I guarantee you'll get a few good laughs.

5/10