Director: Adam Shankman
Year Released: 2003
Rating: 1.5
Would have been hideously offensive and almost unwatchable had the stereotypes not been so extreme - ex-convict Black Woman from the hood meets WASP/upper-class lawyer from the suburbs - but that still doesn't let it off the hook, since in the end Black Culture is violent, crass and prone to criminal behavior and whites are 'out of it' racists and snobs. Had it not been for Steve Martin's inherent charm and Queen Latifah's infectious 'roll with it' attitude (not to mention Missi Pyle's gold-digging Tae Bo kick boxer bitch), this would have played out as an unredeemable Minstrel Show - because the movie is designed for a white audience, the African-American 'lexicon' is uncomfortably played for laughs. There is an attempt to subvert racist beliefs that are still shamefully running through present-day America, though the effort is half-hearted, flimsy and requires an altogether different script. It is substantially funnier than A Mighty Wind, though that isn't much of a compliment.
