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The Cookout

The Cookout (2004)

tomatometer

5

Average Rating: 2.8/10
Reviews Counted: 43
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 41

Good-natured but prepared with an absence of craft, The Cookout is an unappetizing collection of warmed-over jokes.

7

Average Rating: 2.6/10
Critic Reviews: 14
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 13

Good-natured but prepared with an absence of craft, The Cookout is an unappetizing collection of warmed-over jokes.

audience

48

liked it
Average Rating: 2.9/5
User Ratings: 7,146

My Rating

Movie Info

When Todd Anderson (Storm P) signs a 30-million-dollar contract with the New Jersey Nets after being named the number one NBA draft pick of the year, his mother (Jenifer Lewis) vows to prevent her son from forgetting his roots. Not used to balancing his new life with his old, Todd mistakenly invites family and friends from his old neighborhood to his multi-million-dollar house for a cookout on the same day of an important endorsement interview. Though his extravagant family cookouts were welcome

PG-13, 1 hr. 28 min.

Comedy

Laurie Turner, Jeffrey Brian Holmes, Arthur Harris, Ramsey Gbelawoe

Jan 18, 2005

$11.5M

Lions Gate Films

The Cookout Trailer & Photos

More Photos (14)
More Trailers and Videos (1)

Cast

Critic Reviews for The Cookout

All Critics (43) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (2) | Rotten (41) | DVD (6)

This is one dull party.

January 5, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Todd's payday apparently sends comedy backward in time, and we're in the 1970s, ethno-sitcom style.

September 9, 2004 Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | Comment
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A painfully unfunny, would-be comedy.

September 8, 2004 Comment
Frank Scheck
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The pointlessness of The Cookout exudes a modicum of charm, but the simple-minded mess still lacks the wit and moral weight of an episode of Family Matters.

September 7, 2004 Full Review Source: Village Voice | Comment
Akiva Gottlieb
Village Voice
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Proceeds at a rambling pace without developing much in the way of comic momentum or scoring many laugh-out-loud high points.

September 7, 2004 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Joe Leydon
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The jokes are not just stale; they can also be labor-intensive.

September 7, 2004 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Comment
Carla Meyer
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Avoid this gross, raunchy comedy at all costs.

December 28, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Nell Minow
Common Sense Media

The very definition of an easy target--and, in all fairness, it deserves every last bit of criticism.

January 7, 2010 Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | Comment
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com

Director Lance Rivera has never directed a movie before, and he doesn't start here.

August 7, 2008 Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | Comment
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review

Seemingly assembled from ideas on the cutting-room floor of a cancelled sitcom.

January 5, 2007 Full Review Source: AV Club | Comment
Keith Phipps
AV Club

Uma "comédia" sem a menor graça que, com seus estereótipos ofensivos a brancos, negros e homossexuais, falha não só do ponto de vista cinematográfico, mas também humano.

February 9, 2005 Comment
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

...a taxing and intolerable vehicle that has all the charm of a gold-toothed rapper's root canal. The Cookout is certainly not any food for thought.

January 19, 2005 Full Review | Comment
Frank Ochieng
TheWorldJournal.com

It's low comedy and it's crudely made. But that's no excuse for it being dull.

October 31, 2004 Full Review Source: Las Vegas Mercury | Comment
Anthony Del Valle
Las Vegas Mercury

Everything else here -- from the gross caricatures to the so-called comic mayhem -- is sour to taste.

September 19, 2004 Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | Comment
Kimberley Jones
Austin Chronicle

Plenty of action and confusion in this wild story that culminates in a cookout.

September 14, 2004 Full Review Source: Entertainment Spectrum | Comment
Vince Koehler
Entertainment Spectrum

The movie unfolds in the most perfunctory fashion. At least the food looks good.

September 11, 2004 Comment
Timothy Knight
Reel.com

It does provide some true laughs and, incredibly, some real humanity.

September 11, 2004 Full Review Source: Film Journal International | Comments (2)
David Noh
Film Journal International

Director Lance Rivera raises some legitimate questions about moving up versus selling out and the commodification of professional athletes, but he couldn't care less about answering them.

September 11, 2004 Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | Comment
Brooke Holgerson
Boston Phoenix

Rippin' and Dippin'

September 10, 2004 Full Review Source: PopMatters | Comment
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters

This is one more entry in the long list of 'urban comedies' that dish out the kind of humor that would probably spark protests if the filmmakers weren't African-American.

September 9, 2004 Full Review Source: Kalamazoo Gazette | Comment
James Sanford
Kalamazoo Gazette

Rivera and a host of screenwriters were apparently as cowed by Lady Em as Todd; she sucks up much of the screen time, and admirable though her family values may be, they're not exactly rip-roaring funny.

September 9, 2004 Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | Comment
Chuck Wilson
L.A. Weekly

There might have been a decent comedy here if someone had remembered to insert some actual humor.

September 9, 2004 Full Review Source: New Times | Comment
Luke Y. Thompson
New Times
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Cookout

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The laughs were lukewarm

January 23, 2010
RemiLogan
Remi Logan

Super Reviewer

I originally saw this because of Queen Latifah, but was intriqued to see Farrah Fawcett play Danny Glovers wife! A really funny movie with all the stereo types! Farrah's last big screen film.

September 13, 2009
laurabraniganfan1
Randy Bridges

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