WELCOME HOME ROSCOE JENKINS

HEADLINE: ** Clouded by Foul Language and Crude Humor **
TITLE: WELCOME HOME ROSCOE JENKINS
Quality: * * * Acceptability: -2
SUBTITLES: None
WARNING CODES:
Language: LLL
Violence: V
Sex: SS
Nudity: NN

RATING: PG-13
RELEASE: February 8, 2007
TIME: 114 minutes
STARRING: Martin Lawrence, Louis C.K., Nicole Ari Parker, James Earl Jones, and Joy Bryant
DIRECTOR: Malcolm D. Lee
PRODUCERS: Scott Stuber, Mary Parent and Charles Castaldi
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Malcolm D. Lee, Timothy M. Bourne and Gary Barber
WRITER: Malcolm D. Lee
BASED ON THE NOVEL/PLAY BY: N/A
DISTRIBUTOR: Universal Pictures/G.E.

CONTENT: (PaPa, BB, AbAb, LLL, V, SS, NN, A, DD, MM) Strong mixed pagan worldview with some strong pagan elements, including lots of crude humor, a strong moral premise where the protagonist learns the importance of putting others first, respecting parents, becoming a good father, and loving his family more than himself, but with some strong anti-Christian content such as an off-color joke about "speaking in tongues" and references to using church (including improper clothing and carrying condoms) for getting dates that lead to sex; about 117 obscenities (including one "f" word and some bleeped out "f" word), a couple strong profanities and 18 profanities; comic fighting between adult siblings, including punching, wrestling, kicking, and mostly destroying the inside of parent's house; depicted promiscuity and sexual perversion, including overly graphic "mating" of two dogs, and references to male and female private parts, comments about women's breasts and pornography; upper male nudity, partial frontal female nudity and reference to shaving privates, and woman in skimpy clothing and revealing exercise outfits; alcohol use; multiple drug references but no depictions; and, examples of bad parenting with father being absent from son's life and uncaring, bad role model by father to son, lying, betting, getting revenge, mocking use of a Middle-Eastern accent, and multiple use of the "n" word between black characters.

GENRE: Comedy
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Older teenagers and adults

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SUMMARY: WELCOME HOME ROSCOE JENKINS is the story of a fictional talk-show host and self-help guru, who left behind his humble Southern background and family name, but whose life is shaken up when he returns home for his parents' 50th wedding anniversary. The actors all give noteworthy performances, but even with a strong and positive final message, the movie is dampened and overshadowed by all the unnecessary foul language and incredibly crude humor.

IN BRIEF:

WELCOME HOME ROSCOE JENKINS stars Martin Lawrence as RJ Stevens, a TV talk show host and self-help guru who left his humble Southern background and family name. RJ, which stands for Roscoe Jenkins, his real name, dispenses his "Team of Me" philosophy to millions of adoring fans. With a Reality TV star as his fiancée and plenty of wealth, he's living the Hollywood dream. Roscoe's parents plead for him to come to their 50th wedding anniversary after years of separation. He packs up his 10-year-old son and bride-to-be and heads back home to Georgia. When his crazy, lovable family calls him on his big-city attitude and challenges him at every turn, Roscoe is forced to take a hard look at himself.

The acting of the talented cast is impressive, but the writing leaves a lot to be desired. A very positive message eventually wins the day, but not before the audience is forced to endure an insane amount of foul language, perverted jokes, sexual references, and silly violence. There are also blatantly offensive religious remarks about characters claiming to be "Christian" but displaying lifestyles and actions that are anything but.