Sunday, March 06, 2011

TRAILER: Paula Patton & Laz Alonso's "Jumping the Broom"

PLOT: Two very different families converge on Martha's Vineyard one weekend for a wedding.

CAST: Paula Patton (Just Wright and Precious), Laz Alonso (Just Wright and Avatar), Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, Mike Epps, Julie Bowen ("Modern Family"), Tasha Smith (Why Did I Get Married Too?), DeRay Davis, Meagan Good, Romeo

VERDICT: It's not often that an African American comedy doesn't take place in the ghetto and involve some form of criminal behavior (First Sunday) or insulting poor person plot (Lottery Ticket). And it's not often that films acknowledge that racism doesn't just happen between two races but also between two class systems. I know from experience that minorities aren't exempt from upholding hierarchies, and looking down on someone of their own color just because they can't afford a Bentley. No matter what you are it always seems to be about what you have. Our Family Wedding did a horrible job of highlighting this, insulting both Mexicans and African Americans (and, in the end credits, Asians). But Something New was the low-key Jungle Fever, and Sanaa Lathan and Simon Baker managed to tell the story of a beautiful interracial and inter-class relationship. Therefore, it can be done. This story, however, seems to be more about the strife than the love. Not to mention, Patton seems to be doing an impression of Jennifer Garner in 13 Going on 30, and I know she can act better than that.

Release Date: May 6

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