JUST WRIGHT
RYAN: There’s a lot more wrong than right in Queen Latifah’s new movie Just Wright.
CAROLINE: I went into it thinking it was going to be pretty cute. I love romantic comedies and this one had a decent trailer, even though its about sports. But when you cast two hip-hop singers as first-time romantic leads and one of them has ambiguous sexuality, it doesn’t result in a whole lotta chemistry. Or great acting.
RYAN: I actually liked more about this movie than I disliked, but yes; its biggest weakness was the acting of its two stars, Common and Queen Latifah. Add to that some truly cheesy, cringe-worthy writing and you’ve got a problem. Maybe more experienced actors could have handled it, but these two couldn’t.
CAROLINE: The screenplay is really weak, which is too bad because it’s got a decent premise. We expect rom coms to be formulaic, but some of the lines here will make you wince. And then the delivery isn’t great either. The Queen and Common need to get to an acting class before they try this genre again. Or they should just stick to musicals and action flicks, respectively.
RYAN: I liked the story and the romance of it, and it had a couple of unpredictable moments. It was pretty up and down though.
CAROLINE: Aside from the two leads, who are likable but miscast, the cast is good. Paula Patton, whom we adored in Precious, plays Queen’s best friend. She’s stunningly gorgeous. Dr. Webber from Grey’s Anatomy plays Queen’s dad, Pam Grier is her mom and Phylicia Rashad plays Common’s mom.
RYAN: And I gasped when I saw Prince Charming from the Brandy/Whitney Houston TV version of Cinderella playing a waiter.
CAROLINE: I believe that’s a reference that no one on earth will get except you. You are truly scaring me right now.
RYAN: What can I say, he’s one of my favorite actors.
CAROLINE: I expected this movie to be light, breezy and fun, and it started out with that potential. But as it went on, it became very mediocre.
RYAN: The cheese factor definitely increased as the movie progressed. But as far as sports movies go, I’d rather watch one about basketball than football or baseball, so that part was fine. The main problem for me is that Common is so skinny that Queen Latifah looks like the ogre from Shrek standing next to him.
CAROLINE: [laughs’ You are horrible. She looked really pretty in some scenes, but then she had bad jeans on in several others. And honestly, I don’t find Common hot at all. I don’t get it. He’s much better playing a bad guy.
— BOTTOM LINE —
RYAN: This is definitely not a movie you need to see on the big screen. It’s not a great romantic comedy, but I enjoyed it much more than say, Robin Hood, which we’ll review tomorrow.
CAROLINE: It’s not god-awful, but it’s really no great shakes. The movie has a few cute and tolerable moments, but I was expecting more from it. Queen Latifah needs to stick to supporting roles in musicals like Chicago and Hairspray in the future. Her and Common’s acting was truly painful at times. If you want to see a far superior movie from the same director, Sanaa Hamri, check out one of our favorite rom coms ever, Something New.
— RATING —
