Cedric the Entertainer is a fascinating man. I first saw him on the Steve Harvey show, and those two have been playing off of each others' comedy bits for a good amount of time. They were both in the Original Kings of Comedy with Bernie Mack and D.L. Hughley, and they are back together in this cutesy-pie family flick about going to a family reunion and encountering obstacles in every manner along the way. Picture National Lampoon's Vacation minus the funny main character (Chevy Chase) and throw in plenty of urban over saturation.
This is interesting how Cedric plays such a straight character with hardly any humor (as an insurance salesman, his career before acting...a stretch, for Cedric sarcastically speaking) other than an occasional giggle at his manner of helping his family get along on this trip. Right off the bat, the movie starts heading straight to hell. Bow Wow (who was probably offered this role after his CDs stopped selling) plays a kid (who seems like he's nine) who keeps talking in -izzle terms and stereotyping right away. A quick (and pointless) cameo by Kurupt, the rapper, leads the audience down the wrong path entirely. Shannon Elizabeth was in the film briefly as a stoner/witch/hitchhiker who also wields an alligator, which was actually pretty great animating for the alligator...very creepy.
There were funny moments, like the hanging of a flat-screen TV between JFK and a picture of Jesus...pretty symbolic and funny. Also, I liked the co-star Vanessa Williams' comment on tricked out SUVs: "It looks like a purse on wheels." Also, at the end, Steve Harvey plays the brother of Cedric who wins the family reunion-competition, and when his trophy is crushed by a truck, his performance at that point was pretty funny. But that's all...
Most of the movie is based around sketch comedy and pieced together to seem like a movie. You can tell where they were trying to come up with filler for the film. There are pointless fart/urine jokes that have been overdone, a terrible CHP sequence with a jail moment and all that, and a family reunion that they know that they're going to hate, but they go anyways...FUN! :( Overall, I gave it a 4/10. It was a light-hearted movie that probably shouldn't be looked at this closely, but it does when the movie loses the audience's interest halfway through it. Don't even bother renting it; get National Lampoon's Vacation or European Vacation instead. This movie will appeal to your 10 or 11-year-old only, so beware.
This is interesting how Cedric plays such a straight character with hardly any humor (as an insurance salesman, his career before acting...a stretch, for Cedric sarcastically speaking) other than an occasional giggle at his manner of helping his family get along on this trip. Right off the bat, the movie starts heading straight to hell. Bow Wow (who was probably offered this role after his CDs stopped selling) plays a kid (who seems like he's nine) who keeps talking in -izzle terms and stereotyping right away. A quick (and pointless) cameo by Kurupt, the rapper, leads the audience down the wrong path entirely. Shannon Elizabeth was in the film briefly as a stoner/witch/hitchhiker who also wields an alligator, which was actually pretty great animating for the alligator...very creepy.
There were funny moments, like the hanging of a flat-screen TV between JFK and a picture of Jesus...pretty symbolic and funny. Also, I liked the co-star Vanessa Williams' comment on tricked out SUVs: "It looks like a purse on wheels." Also, at the end, Steve Harvey plays the brother of Cedric who wins the family reunion-competition, and when his trophy is crushed by a truck, his performance at that point was pretty funny. But that's all...
Most of the movie is based around sketch comedy and pieced together to seem like a movie. You can tell where they were trying to come up with filler for the film. There are pointless fart/urine jokes that have been overdone, a terrible CHP sequence with a jail moment and all that, and a family reunion that they know that they're going to hate, but they go anyways...FUN! :( Overall, I gave it a 4/10. It was a light-hearted movie that probably shouldn't be looked at this closely, but it does when the movie loses the audience's interest halfway through it. Don't even bother renting it; get National Lampoon's Vacation or European Vacation instead. This movie will appeal to your 10 or 11-year-old only, so beware.