Wade Walker (Craig Robinson) has fallen for the lovely “perfect” Grace Peeples(Kerry Washington). After being together for a year he decides it’s time for him to pop the question, but hasn’t found a right time to do it nor has he met her family. So one weekend when she goes to her family’s summer home in the Hamptons, Wade surprises her there. He’s greeted with a surprise himself when he learns that her family doesn’t even know about him. The rest of his weekend is spent trying to impress the merciless Judge Virgil Peeples (David Alan Grier). As Craig gets to know the family, he learns that the Peeples family contains a lot of secrets. For those of you who are turned off by Perry’s heavy handedness with religion, melodrama, and women’s dysfunctional relationships with men then you can breathe a sigh of relief. Peeples is only “presented” by Tyler Perry and that is his only involvement.
Tina Gordon Chism wrote and directed the film. It plays like any other broad romantic comedy. Actually it plays like a black version of Meet the Parents. Regardless I was delighted to see David Alan Grier in a film. He is an underrated comedic actor that isn’t utilized nearly enough. Plus seeing Robinson in a lead role was a bit surprising as he is not an actor one visualizes as a leading man. But the movie had only mild laughs with very one dimensional characters that weren’t really fleshed out. And Washington while a very beautiful and talented actress, comedy is not her strong point. Her comedic bits came off as forced and sometimes her character was even unlikable. So while the movie does have some enjoyable parts, I feel it is not that strong of a film to pay $14 to see. Wait for DVD.
Rating C.
Maia M.
