"Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins" is a surprise.
Not a wholly pleasant one - you can't really call the Martin Lawrence comedy a genuinely good movie. The story is too predictable, too pat, its feel-good lessons telegraphed from the start. Director Malcolm D. Lee, who also wrote the script, has trouble bringing together disparate plot threads.
But thanks to a spirited supporting cast, you can call parts of "Roscoe Jenkins" genuinely funny, especially compared to Lawrence fare like "Big Momma's House." Mike Epps in particular is hilarious as Lawrence's hustler relative. But we're getting ahead of the story.
Which is this: Lawrence plays the Roscoe of the title - though, as we learn, that's not technically his real name. He's a talk-show host in Los Angeles, somewhere between Jerry Springer and Montel Williams, leaning a little more toward the former. His career gets a boost when he gets engaged to Bianca Kittles (Joy Bryant), a winner on "Survivor" whose ambition is rivaled only by her self-esteem.
Roscoe, a single parent, just kind of plays along, and allows Bianca to talk him into going back home, down South, for his parents' anniversary - but not because she's sentimental. She sees it as a boffo media opportunity.
It's at his parents' house that we meet the oddball cast of characters that Roscoe's been running from most of his life. There's Reggie (the aforementioned Epps), always on the make; Betty, (comedian Mo'Nique), constantly undermining Roscoe; and Otis (Michael Clarke Duncan), Roscoe's well-grounded brother and the town sheriff.
Then along comes Clyde (Cedric the Entertainer), Roscoe's cousin who was raised with him. A childhood incident has left them fiercely competitive - and it's Clyde, who owns some car dealerships, that the family considers a success, despite Roscoe's fame and fortune.
Their rivalry extends to (and was created by) their feelings for Lucinda (Nicole Ari Parker).
What follows is a lesson in family, love, true happiness, all that. No surprise at where the film leads. But there is some fun in getting there. Reggie is the funniest thing in the film, though sometimes you feel bad about laughing. Epps plays him over the top, often resorting - on purpose, one assumes - to broad stereotypes that are nevertheless a riot. When he's paired with Mo'Nique, you don't know whether to laugh or wince. I almost always went with the former.
Bryant captures well the psychotic competitive streak we suspect remains when the reality-show cameras stop rolling. Lawrence is much more low-key than usual, toning down his performance for most of the film. In his case, that's a good thing.
In Cedric's case, however, it's a disappointment. He never gets rolling, never seems fully invested in Clyde. Too bad - when he's rolling, Cedric's really funny.
Ultimately the movie works best as a series of isolated moments - Reggie's reaction upon mistakenly walking in on Betty in the shower, for instance (I know, I know, but it's FUNNY). Nothing highbrow about it - but "Roscoe Jenkins" works best when it aims lowest.
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Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, language and some drug references
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WELCOME HOME ROSCOE JENKINS, (PG-13) Two and One-Half Stars (Fair-to-Good)
Martin Lawrence stars as a Los Angeles talk-show host who goes back home for his parents' anniversary and confronts his past, largely populated by offbeat relatives and friends. Lawrence is more low-key than usual, as is Cedric the Entertainer. Best of all is Mike Epps, as a hustler relative. Lawrence and Epps and James Earl Jones, Margaret Avery, Mo'Nique, Nicole Ari Parker, and Michael Clarke Duncan star for 'Roscoe Jenkins' director Malcolm D. Lee. Universal Pictures, 114 minutes.
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On the Web:
www.welcomehomeroscoejenkins.com/
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Bill Goodykoontz is the film critic for The Arizona Republic and the chief film critic for Gannett News Service. Reach him at bill.goodykoontz(AT)arizonarepublic.com. Read his blog at goodyblog.azcentral.com.
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