Don’t go to “The Cookout” looking for Soul Food. Queen Latifah’s naked grab for that magic “Barber Shop” black comedy audience lacks flavor, laughs and insight. It’s a comedy that wants to say something about family in all its odd shapes and sizes, and cookouts as fellowship. But it’s about as spicy as oatmeal.
Quran Pender is an NBA bonus baby, a No. 1 draft pick talked into moving out of mom’s house and living large in Jersey. Meagan Good is Brittany, the gold digger who drags him away from Lady Em, his mom (Jenifer Lewis). But his agent (Jonathan Silverman) has set up an endorsement meeting on the same day as a cookout he’s throwing for the family in his new gated community. Uptight white people, meet your new black neighbors. And their chitterlings.
That’s the joke. Readers who remember “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” “Good Times” and the like are excused at this point. Queen Latifah produced this and takes a mostly unfunny supporting role.
The novice director, Lance Rivera, is best known as a business associate of the late rapper Biggie Smalls. He can’t find anything worth focusing on here.
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Rating: One star. MPAA rating: PG-13 for drug content, sexual references and language. Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes.
