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Features: DVD, Pan and Scan (TV Format), Aspect Ratio 1.33:1, Dolby Digital (5.1), Dolby Digital Surround, Deleted Scenes, Featurettes, Outtakes, Trailers, English, Spanish Subtitled
Todd Anderson's life changes overnight when he signs a $30 million contract with the NBA. Determined not to forget where he's from, he throws a cookout for his family and friends from the hood, in his new neighborhood. As old and new friends arrive, a series of mix-ups occur--and things are about to get wild!
"...comic mayhem..." Kimberley Jones, Austin Chronicle
"...an outdoor, barbecue-grilled "Barbershop"" Stephen Holden, New York Times
Editor's Note
A Rutgers University star player, Todd Andrews (Storm P), is picked first in the NBA draft and under the manipulation of his hot, gold-digging girlfriend (Meagan Good) he starts living large, replete with big house in a snobby, gated community. This doesn't go over well with his down-to-earth mom (Jenifer Lewis), who fears her boy will lose track of his roots. At any rate, it's time for the annual family cookout, and Todd decides to have it at his new digs, bringing in a caravan of eccentric family members and arousing the ire of the gate security guard (Queen Latifah). Plunging through a lot of sticky racial issues, this comedy manages to address concerns like the transition of African American culture and community, and to stay very loose and funny at the same time. Farrah Fawcett is good as the racist wife of a retired judge (Danny Glover) whom she doesn't seem to realize is African American himself (they're the angry neighbors). Rapper Ja Rule plays the requisite villainous thug from the old neighborhood determined to ride Todd's coattails to big money via some stolen sneakers. The large cast is generally inspired, but Lewis is the big standout here, transcending what could have been just another "big momma" stereotype by mixing fierce intelligence and wit with warmhearted sass. Latifah is also hilarious as the racial-profiling rent-a-cop; she also produced and co-wrote the original story.
| Features | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Street Ballin': Behind The Scenes On The Neighbor "Hood" Court | | Theatrical Trailers | | Full Screen Presentation | | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital Surround | | Subtitles: English, Spanish | | Family Commentaries With Jenifer Lewis and Storm P | | What Is A Good Cookout?: The Cast Share Their Simple Steps to a Cookout | | Outtakes/Blooper | | Music Montages | | Gold Diggers Featurette | | Deleted Scenes | | Recipe For The Cookout Featurette: Behind the Scenes Flava With the Cast | | Street Ballin': Behind the Scenes on the Neighbor "Hood" Court |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Lions Gate |
| Release Date: 4/22/2008 |
| Running Time: 97 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2004 | | Catalog ID: 17150 | | UPC: 00031398171508 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Available Subtitles: English, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Standard 1.33:1 [4:3] |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | San Francisco Chronicle 5 of 10
Think ahead to later today, when Labor Day barbecues are in their waning hours. Flies hover around t - Carla Meyer
Entertainment Weekly 5 of 10
Sends comedy backward in time, and we're in the 1970s, ethno-sitcom style: These Andersons in their - Lisa Schwarzbaum
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