The Cookout DVD Review:

The list of actors which cover the top of the DVD cover of The Cookout seem as though they should be impressive, and perhaps they will be the reason you pick the film up to consider renting it, but afterwards they will be a list of people who should be ashamed for making such an awful film. Although there are much worse films that you could rent, some of which I have reviewed recently, but none of them are created, produced, and starring an Academy Award nominee. You might say that this talent just made a mistake, but personally I think it is more likely that the Academy made the mistake.

Todd Anderson has just been picked first in the NBA draft, and soon he will be making millions of dollars to play basketball for a living. As much as he tries to convince his mother, Lady Em, that the $30 million dollar contract won’t change him, suddenly everything begins to change. When Todd buys a new house, with the help of his gold-digger girlfriend, it is decided that it should be the location of a family cookout.

From this point on hilarity is supposed to ensue as Todd moves into a housing community that is scared of black people, despite the fact that the guard at the gate is black (Queen Latifah), and there is a black judge living in the community as well, played by the recently inconsistent Danny Glover. Yet once the cars pull into the community suddenly children begin running away and a white housewife, played by Farrah Fawcett, runs back to tell her black husband that there is a gang outside.

To be absolutely honest, I feel this insults the audiences intelligence, wouldn’t a woman married to a black man understand that they must not all be criminals? I think that the filmmakers understood this also, and they had the black judge talk “white”. This may sound offensive, and it is even more so when watched. It is meant to be a stupid joke, but it is making a statement about black people more than white people. It is saying that if you speak properly and live in a nice house with a respectable job, you aren’t being true to your black heritage. In the end Glover’s character smokes weed and talks about drinking malt liquor. Suddenly he is dressed differently and cannot speak a word of proper English, but we are supposed to be glad that he has returned to his roots, which also include demanding things from his wife because he is the man of the house. I would think that this should be more offensive to black women than anything else.

Race aside, the film is just not funny. Ja Rule, Queen Latifah, and Danny Glover try desperately to be over-the-top funny, but all three of them are more irritating than anything else. If there is any humor in this film it comes from the actors who make their characters believable first of all. Some of the good ones include the Gold Digger girlfriend, the supportive butler, and the uncle that can never pass the bar exam.

For a film that I honestly disliked a great deal, I have to say it is a well produced DVD, and a good buy for anyone who may like the film. The menus are interactive and fun, and once you get into the special features menu there are all sorts of surprises. There are a number of deleted scenes, some of which are better than others, and a great number of featurettes as well. Perhaps my favorite special feature was the recipes for a cookout. It was creative and fun, and had I not already seen the film it would have gotten me excited to watch it.

Ryan Izay

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