The Honeymooners

Demonstrating how not to remake a successful TV series, this African-American comedy is based on the 1950s show starring Jackie Gleason. New York bus driver Ralph (Cedric the Entertainer) and sewer worker Ed (Mike Epps) spend their days dreaming up get-rich-quick schemes and irritating their materialistic wives (Gabrielle Union and Regina Hall). When the ladies eye up a duplex, the guys attempt to land the necessary cash with the aid of some disused train carriages and dogs – the latter providing the excuse for a passable comic turn from John Leguizamo as a shifty trainer. Otherwise, this is devoid of laughs: the ham-fisted domestic humour feels dated and oddly reminiscent of ‘The Flintstones’ (itself based on ‘The Honeymooners’ and name-checked here). But as ‘The Flintstones’ movie proved, TV humour doesn’t always translate to the big screen, especially when you have a plot that stinks more than the sewer locations this film seems so fond of. Put it this way: you’ll be glad when ‘The Honeymooners’ is over.