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Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008)

Director: Malcolm D Lee

Time Out rating

Average user rating

1 review

Movie review

From Time Out London

Martin Lawrence’s inexplicably lengthy screen career putters on with all the grace of a gangrenous racehorse in this crushingly conventional ‘home to mom’ ensemble comedy which contains all of the mandatory fat/smell/booty gags that the star’s filmic oeuvre tends to cherish.

Essentially a poorly written black riff on ‘Meet the Parents’, Lawrence plays Roscoe Jenkins, a vacuous city slicker and TV self-help guru who has rejected the downhome values of his strict upbringing on a Southern homestead. His cultural re-education begins when he is invited – along with his reality TV star fiancé – to his parents’ 50th wedding anniversary, where he is forced to face up to all manner of adolescent trauma and re-stoked sibling rivalry.

Comedians Mike Epps and Mo’Nique – respectively Roscoe’s cousin and sister – effortlessly steal the show with their salty and perfectly delivered patter, leaving you wondering if perhaps it should have been their names under the title and not the mugging, unlovable Lawrence.

Author: David Jenkins 2008-05-27 11:51:56

Time Out London Issue 1971 May 28- June 3, 2008

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User reviews of this film

usman khawaja said...

Posted on Jun 03 2008 14:48 Re-inventing the stereotypes of a hollywood comedy with an Afro-American family clone in Georgia seems difficult but looks really easy as put on screen by the talented Malcolm Lee accompanied by the very talented Martin Lawrence as smalltown boy who has made it big as a TV host, and left home 9 years ago to find his identity after being disillusioned by his daddy[earl jones ]indifference,he has made it big in the world , but has he really made any difference within the family equation is the query posed in this thoughtful satire .
Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins is dressed as family reunion where the Jenkins come together in their full glory. Monique as the obese, trashy, gossip mongering sister, Betty. Bryant as the predatory, mean, perfectionist girlfriend Bianca, and the essential bullying big brother (Duncan) and the prototype black competitive cousin, Cedric as Clyde who has cheated Roscoe out of his father's love as well as his childhood crush- Lucinda (Nicole Ari Parker).
Every character has an ego and an alter ego and they engage in a battle of wits which indulges in the most intelligent comic gags ever, as well as plain physical wrestling between brother and sister. The witticism goes from overt to hyper comic but the results are always totally hilarious. In fact, I have seldom seen anything as funny as the courtship between Biancas dog Fifi and the family dog Buck which end-results in a surreal sex scene and a hilariously funny dog sex scandal with Bianca being blamed for her dogs promiscuity.
This is the best comedy so far this year and it exceeds Be Kind Rewind in originality and gags which pour out in almost every frame, combining talent and humour in the best manner in the domain of a Georgian Afro family full of super manic, real dodgy characters who realise their own ambitions as well as fulfill our expectations in the most unusual execution of a predictable plot. It is obvious as to how it will end but the way it gets there is utterly and incredibly hilarious and this is an instant classic within those perimeters.
Mike Epps as the double dealing, sweet talking cousin who can con anybody and is sweet on Bianca is almost as good as Martin Lawrence as Roscoe. Monique steals the show as the swearing sister Betty, while Bryant (Bianca) as the girlfriend who is the most talented and experienced lover in States is absolutely smashing in the role of the black vamp.
In the final tally, try not to miss any scene from this comic marvel. Roscoe has come home in the most welcoming manner and achievement possible to undertake - Unmissable .

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