The Cookout

The Cookout is a 2004 American comedy film, directed by Lance Rivera, written by Queen Latifah and Shakim Compere. The film introduces Quran Pender (credited as "Storm P") as Todd Anderson and starring Ja Rule, Tim Meadows, Jenifer Lewis, Meagan Good, Jonathan Silverman, Farrah Fawcett, Frankie Faison, Eve, Danny Glover, and a special appearance by Latifah. This was the last film for both Carl Wright and Farrah Fawcett their respective deaths in 2007 and 2009.

The Cookout
Theatrical release poster
Directed byLance Rivera
Produced byShakim Compere
Queen Latifah
Screenplay byLaurie B. Turner
Ramsey Gbelawoe
Jeffrey Brian Holmes
Story byQueen Latifah
Shakim Compere
Darryl French
StarringJa Rule
Tim Meadows
Jenifer Lewis
Storm P.
Meagan Good
Jonathan Silverman
Farrah Fawcett
Frankie Faison
Eve
Danny Glover
Queen Latifah
Music byCamara Kambon
CinematographyTom Houghton
Edited byPatricia Bowers
Jeff McEvoy
Production
company
Distributed byLions Gate Entertainment
Release date
  • September 3, 2004 (2004-09-03)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$16 million[1]
Box office$12,009,070[2]

Plot

Todd Anderson (Quran Pender) has just signed a 5-year/$30 million contract with his hometown basketball team the New Jersey Nets, he purchases many new luxuries for himself and his family including a new house in a well established, high class neighborhood called Garden Ridges Estates for him and his gold digging girlfriend Brittany (Meagan Good). Keeping with family tradition, he and his parents Em and JoJo (Jenifer Lewis and Frankie Faison) decides to host a regular family reunion cookout in his new place. He does not plan for it to clash with an important business meeting for an endorsement deal which his agent Wes (Jonathan Silverman) arranges. He even meets Garden Ridge's local security guard (Queen Latifah).

Meanwhile, Bling Bling (Ja Rule) is jealous that his former classmate Todd has made it with his basketball contract after being insulted and embarrassed in front of the neighborhood when Todd did not recognize who he was. He plans to get many pairs of sneakers signed by the upcoming star to sell on eBay and become rich.

Although the meeting is scheduled to take place in the morning, the guests are to arrive in the afternoon. One by one, members of Todd's eccentric family like Willie and Nelson (Jerod Mixon and Jamal Mixon), country cousins Jemar and Jasper (Shawn Andrew and Godfrey), aspiring lawyer Uncle Leroy (Tim Meadows), Todd's grandpa (Carl Wright), cousin Little Dee (Denee Busby) and her kids, and Em's sister Nettie (Rita Owens) alongside her husband Frank (Reg E. Cathey) and son Jamal (Kevin Phillps) begin to arrive before expected disrupting his business interview. As Em keeps Brittany busy, the neighbors Judge Crowley (Danny Glover) and his wife (Farrah Fawcett) are drawn to the cookout.

Whilst on his way to Todd's new house, he crashes his car due to his clumsy friend Wheezer (Ruperto Vanderpool), tries to ride in the truck of a poo salesman (Vincent Pastore), and then tries to steal a new Mercedes from a parking garage without realizing the car belongs to Todd's girlfriend Brittany. After finding out, he holds her at gunpoint and forces her to drive him there.

Todd is concerned mainly about his image, as his family's antics are making a poor impression on his neighbors when the security guard visits. Todd's childhood friend Becky (Eve) arrive. After a talk with her, Todd apologizes to his mother for losing his temper. She forgives him after settling her differences with Nettie.

When Bling Bling and Wheezer invade the cookout so they can get Todd's autograph, the ensuing chaos makes Todd realize how much he needs his family. He realizes that he loves the family for the way they are and gets a shock by the endorsement interviewer. Bling Bling and Wheezer are defeated by the security guard, Jemar, and Jasper and are arrested by the police. Todd breaks up with Brittney and marries Becky as DJ Enuff performs at the party.

A postscript states that Todd scores 26 points in his debut in New Jersey as he and Becky use the car bed he originally slept in. Leroy failed his bar exam for the 16th time and his conspiracy book was a bestseller. Little Dee finally got a father figure for her kids and moved in next to Todd. Jamal complete med school and broke up with Brittany three times. The security guard Mildred Smith left Garden Ridges and became a cop who gained a record of different tickets written out.

Cast
  • Quran Pender as Todd Andersen, a basketball player who joins the New Jersey Nets.
    • Otis Best portrays Todd during his grade school days.
  • Ja Rule as Bling Bling/Percival "Assmackey" Ashmokeem, a rival of Todd.
    • Ali Wright portrays Bling Bling during his grade school days.
  • Tim Meadows as Leroy, the uncle of Todd who has failed his bar exam 15 times.
  • Jenifer Lewis as Lady Em/Emma Andersen, the mother of Todd.
  • Meagan Good as Brittany, the gold-digging girlfriend of Todd.
  • Jonathan Silverman as Wes Riley, Todd's agent.
  • Farrah Fawcett as Mrs. Crowley, the neighbor of Todd.
  • Frankie Faison as JoJo Andersen, the father of Todd.
  • Eve as Becky, a childhood friend of Todd.
    • Channelle Nazaire portrays Becky during her grade school days.
  • Danny Glover as Judge Crowley, the husband of Mrs. Crowley.
  • Queen Latifah as Mildred Smith, a security guard of the neighborhood that Todd's family moved into. Her name wasn't revealed until the postscript.
  • Ruperto Vanderpool as Wheezer, the clumsy friend of Bling Bling.
  • Vincent Pastore as Horse shit salesman (credited as "Poo Salesman"), a man who collects and sells manure.
  • Roberto Roman as Danny
  • Carl Wright as Grandpa, the unnamed grandfather of Todd.
  • Reg E. Cathey as Frank Washington, the uncle of Todd.
  • Rita Owens as Nettie Washington, the aunt of Todd and sister of Lady Em.
  • Kevin Phillips as Jamal Washington, the son of Frank and Nettie who wants to become a doctor instead of a basketball player like Nettie wanted.
  • Gerry Bamman as Jeeves, a butler who Todd gets for his parents.
  • Marci Reed as Miss Peters, the representative of a wireless phone company.
  • Denee Busby as Little Dee, the cousin of Todd who is looking for a father figure for her kids.
  • Wilhelm Lewis as Wayne
  • Jerod Mixon as Willie, the pot-smoking cousin of Todd.
  • Jamal Mixon as Nelson, the pot-smoking brother of Willie and the cousin of Todd.
  • Wendy Williams as Piers Gabriel, a reporter.
  • Shawn Andrew as Jemar, the country cousin of Todd.
  • Godfrey as Jasper, the country cousin of Todd.
  • Roxy Noffz as Cookie Girl, a girl scout who is denied entry by the security guard who does buy the cookies from her.
  • Marc Plastrik as the Chief of Police
  • DJ Enuff as himself, he performs at the cookout.
  • Marv Albert as himself
  • Elton Brand as himself
  • Mark Cuban as himself
  • Baron Davis as himself

Box office

The film opened on 1,303 screens, and opened at #8 in the box office with a gross of $5,000,900. After seven weeks, it ended with a domestic gross of $11,814,019 and made $195,051 from foreign countries, for a total of $12,009,070 world-wide.[3]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a rating 5%, based on 41 reviews, with the consensus reading, "Good-natured but prepared with an absence of craft, The Cookout is an unappetizing collection of warmed-over jokes."[4] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 15 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[5]

Sequel

On September 3, 2011, a sequel, The Cookout 2 premiered on BET. Quran Pender, Ja Rule, Frankie Faison, Rita Owens, and Denee Busby were the only cast members to reprise their roles. Despite the title, the plot itself is not about a cookout at all with the cookout occurring earlier in the film. Talk show host Wendy Williams had a brief cameo as reporter Piers Gabriel in the original. In the sequel, she makes a special guest appearance as herself hearing about Todd's experiences in the film. Charlie Murphy co-stars in the film as Coach Ashmokeem, the brother of Bling Bling (Rule). The rest of the principal cast consists of Freeze Luv, Faizon Love, Big Boi, Jalen Rose, Michael K. Williams, Fat Joe, Jay Pharaoh, Vivica A. Fox, and Mike Tyson.

References
  1. "The Cookout Box Office". The Numbers. Nash Information Services. Retrieved October 8, 2011.
  2. https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=cookout.htm
  3. https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=cookout.htm
  4. "The Cookout". www.rottentomatoes.com. 2004-09-03. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
  5. "The Cookout". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
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