Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins

Bizarre cinematography and illogical character reactions stand out in this perfunctory and strangely perverse family comedy. The series of happenings are little more than awkwardly staged and poorly juxtaposed comic vignettes that subdue the natural antics of a largely talented cast in a PG-13 cage. Roscoe Jenkins attempts to be a morally laudatory family film but mixes in humour involving the carving of initials into pubic hair and a Pomeranian riding a Golden Retriever cowgirl style to peculiar effect. The story follows Roscoe Jenkins (Martin Lawrence), a successful, Jerry Springer-style talk show host, as he returns to his Southern home from which he has been long absent with his shallow vegan fiancée Bianca (Joy Bryant). Upon arrival, he quickly realises that his parents (James Earl Jones and Margaret Every) and siblings Betty and Otis (Mo’Nique and Michael Clarke Duncan) are unimpressed with his success and still see him as a childhood loser who abandoned his family. As a result, Roscoe quickly regresses into childhood patterns of a competitive nature with his charismatic cousin Clyde (Cedric the Entertainer) and those of a flirtatious nature with grade school crush Lucinda (Nicole Ari Parker). Fans of Lawrence’s goofy faces and trademark antics may be sated by the on-screen happenings, as well as those who enjoy Mike Epps’s idiosyncratic rants, but those looking for cohesion or even competence will be sadly disappointed. On the upside, the deleted scenes and outtakes included on the DVD are quite amusing. Mo’Nique’s rant about her titties being tasty treats, in addition to Mike Epps’s story about a midget hooker complaining that her Lunchable didn’t contain a Butterfinger, is far more amusing than anything on screen. Also available are commentary from director Malcolm D. Lee, an alternate opening and three cast featurettes, which make it abundantly clear that the film was far more fun to make than to watch.