The message - stay true to your roots - is solid, and [director] Lee gives his outstanding comic cast some sharp one-liners, but he undermines the effort with crass humor, mugging and slapstick.
Comment
02/08/08
Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008)
24
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:78
Fresh:19
Rotten:59
Average Rating:4.4/10
Consensus: Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins has moments of comic inspiration -- and long stretches of overdone slapstick.
Theatrical Release:Feb 8, 2008 Wide
Box Office: $42,168,445
Synopsis: Actor-comedian Martin Lawrence (BAD BOYS, BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE) aims for the heartstrings and funny bones in WELCOME HOME ROSCOE JENKINS, a raucous helping of family soul food. Lawrence plays R.J.... [More]
Starring: Martin Lawrence, Margaret Avery, Joy Bryant, Louis C.K.
Director: Malcolm D. Lee
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Reviews for Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins
Top CriticLawrence [has] rarely been more appealing. That's partly because this latest incarnation of his usual persona is more vulnerable and likeable, but mostly it's a relief not to see him strain so hard to Bogart all the jokes.
02/08/08
Top CriticFunny people abound, such as Cedric the Entertainer, Mo'Nique, Mike Epps, etc., but their antics can't save this lazy, bloated, stupid affair.
02/07/08
Nominally a one-star film, I’ll add another just for the supreme pleasure of seeing Mo’Nique beat the bejesus out of her arrogant costar.
02/07/08
Malcolm D. Lee directs in the semaphore approach to comic performance: playing every gesture big enough to be seen from miles away.
02/07/08
If the idea of watching Martin Lawrence getting used and abused appeals to you, then Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins is the movie for you.
02/07/08
Top CriticThere's little to distinguish this oddly mean-spirited comedy.
02/08/08
Top CriticOne of those heartfelt but dubious films about the importance of family.
02/08/08
I laughed harder watching Norbit.
02/11/08
if this film doesn't kill your taste for Martin Lawrence, you'll get him again next month when he stars in the sure-to-be-dreadful College Road Trip
02/08/08
Writer/director Malcolm D. Lee delivers a relatable comedy that drops viewers off in this family that just happens to be African-American.
02/07/08
Top CriticAn in-your-face double helping of fat jokes, crude slapstick, wacky Southern-black stereotypes and occasionally inspired improv.
02/07/08
Top CriticIt's true, writer/director Malcolm D. Lee does pound home a few life lessons, but it mostly comes at the expense of animal attacks, farts, and all-around comedic laziness.
02/07/08
... recycles so much material it's a wonder the film stock didn't turn green during filming.
02/08/08
If you thought National Lampoon's Vacation films were at least okay, then Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins is a decent enough way to spend two hours.
02/06/08
Top CriticUneven, tasteless and just not all that funny, 'Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins' is another non-stellar vehicle for Martin Lawrence.
02/24/08
Modestly budgeted and massively dumb, Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins belongs to the sassy sistas and blinged-out playas school of comedy (maybe it's a preschool, come to think of it).
02/08/08
Top CriticWriter-director Malcolm D. Lee sets out to prove that you can go home again, but the lesson apparently is that it's going to be painful for everyone involved (audiences included).
02/08/08
Top CriticUgh. Just ugh.
02/09/08
The film gets mired in pointless, drawn-out jokes about bodily functions and sex between pets.
02/08/08
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February 07, 2008:
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