Martin Lawrence plays the title hero of this slapstick farce, the black sheep of a Georgia-based family who’s worked his way up to become a sort of male Oprah Winfrey on TV. Accompanied by his glamorous fiancee (Joy Bryant) and his son from a former marriage, he reluctantly goes home for the 50th wedding anniversary of his parents (James Earl Jones and Margaret Avery) and has to work through old grudges involving his older brother (Michael Clarke Duncan), the orphaned cousin his parents raised (Cedric the Entertainer), and other relatives. A few laughs and a lot of hyperbolic shtick make this a little better than formulaic before the standard-issue resolution. Malcolm D. Lee (Undercover Brother) wrote and directed. PG-13, 114 min. (JR) Read more
A good concert film might have been culled from Vaughn’s 30-date LA-to-Chicago tour in September 2005, which showcased stand-up comedians Ahmed Ahmed, John Caparulo, Bret Ernst, and Sebastian Maniscalco and included bits with Vaughn, Jon Favreau, Dwight Yoakam, Justin Long, and Keir O’Donnell. But this is more like a DVD extra for that film, with family visits, interviews, a few sound bites from the show, and the news that Hurricane Katrina occasioned a few cancellations and benefits en route. Ari Sandel directed. R, 115 min. (JR) Read more
Billy Bob Thornton stars as the fictional Charles Farmer, a former NASA astronaut trainee from rural Texas who missed his chance to go into space when his father’s death forced him return to the family farm and settle some debts. He’s now bent on launching himself into orbit inside his own rocket, which he’s built in his barnwith the full support of his family, if not government bureaucrats. This ode to harebrained dreaming by brothers Michael Polish (writer-director) and Mark Polish (writer), who also brought us Twin Falls Idaho and Jackpot, is supposed to be inspiring, but I found it a terrifying illustration of innocent American lunacy at its most self-infatuated. Thornton and his costarsVirginia Madsen, Bruce Dern, Tim Blake Nelson, Richard Edson, and Bruce Willis in an uncredited cameodo what they can with this questionable enterprise. PG, 104 min. (JR) Read more
