Movie review: 'Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins'

2 1/2 stars (out of four)

Under normal circumstances, too many comics spoil the show.

Let’s rephrase that. Too many comics with reputations for being flagrantly over the top tend to spoil the show.

Thankfully that doesn’t get as out of hand as you might imagine in “Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins,” which takes some of today’s funniest black comics and sets them loose,  Martin Lawrence in the lead. Its theme is all-too familiar: The good old boy who was last to get picked in gym class leaves home, becomes ultra-successful and reluctantly comes back, hoping to be seen in a vastly different light by the family who once mocked him as a not-quite-good-enough nerd.

Lawrence’s character Roscoe Jenkins returns to  the small southern town of Dry Springs after nearly a decade  as Dr. RJ  Stevens, a beloved talk show host who is living the L.A. life, complete with the reality-star fiance . But to his family, he’ll always be Roscoe Jenkins, the kid who always was second best to his cousin, Clyde (Cedric the Entertainer). Lawrence’s former country bumpkin   has   transformed into a self-help guru who   sells his TV parishioners on his “Team of Me” philosophy. He’s hoping to sell his family—whom he hasn’t seen since his televised success—on himself, too, only they’re not buying it.

Mike Epps, Lawrence, Mo’Nique and Cedric take center stage and at times do anything for a laugh. Some bits are too much—a big-sister beat-down (by a relatively mild Mo’Nique, who in other films doesn’t exactly know when to say when) goes on too long; there also is an eye-covering animal mating scene that could have been cut. But for the most part, writer/director Malcolm D. Lee delivers a relatable comedy that drops viewers off in this family that just happens to be African-American. He’s done this before, most notably with “The Best Man,” which brought a young ensemble of college-educated black characters together, “Big Chill”-style.

He also, of course, gave us the over-the-top “Undercover Brother.” “Welcome Home Roscoe” falls somewhere in the middle, highlighting the earnestness of family and the importance of never forgetting where you came from, while having fun at the same time.

klcarter@tribune.com

Add a comment