Title: Jumping the Broom

Starring: Paula Patton, Laz Alonso, Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, Tasha Smith, Meagan Good, Mike Epps, DeRay Davis, Romeo

Three things kept me from walking out of “Jumping the Broom;” which felt like 3 hours mind you. One was Mike Epps saving grace comedy. Two was the lovely Paula Patton, who was lowering her acting standards to be a part of this. And the third was curiosity on how bad the direction of Salim Akil could get.

Who in their right mind watched this 110 minute sucker and said, “Yep…We have a cohesive product here for the summer movie season.” Seriously? Dropping in some slapstick moments eased the pain, but the incomplete subplots stemming from cramming in way too many situations and characters, left a mess no broom could clean up.

Sabrina (Paula Patton) and Jason (Laz Alonso) had a chance meeting and instantly fell in love. Six months later, it’s wedding time. The site is at Sabrina’s parents’ pad in Martha’s Vineyard. When I say pad, it’s more like a compound on the lake. Let’s just say the guest house is bigger than most neighborhood complexes. Her mother (Angela Bassett) is questioning the couple’s velocity in getting hitched, but the family is sparring no expense in preparing. Which has Caucasian wedding planner Amy (Julie Bowen) – who is fascinated with the African-American family traits – running around in fear of not pleasing Sabrina’s elegant and bitter mother.

The only other major hurdle the happy couple needs to deal with his their families meeting for the first time. While Sabrina’s family is clearly loaded and proper, Jason’s family is simple and traditional. And his mother (Loretta Devine) is a blunt handful who doesn’t take kindly to rich folk ways. As Jason’s family (Mike Epps, DeRay Davis, Tasha Smith) meets Sabrina’s friends (Meagan Good) and family (Valarie Pettiford, Romeo, Brian Stokes Mitchell), the phrase of “oil & water” has never been more appropriate. Which obviously, puts the wedding in jeopardy.

It’s fine for a movie to have multiple plot points happening all around. But a director better know how to order them in the post-edit, and then, finish the thought so to speak. Hence the above mentioned incompleteness. Now people may say they resolved all the issues; yet they did so in a haphazardly manner. And by doing so, they’ll lead the audience to not giving an emotional crap (think I just invented that phrase) on how the story or the characters play out. The feeling of, “just get it over with” enters the mind.

And when these pitfalls occur, the audience will be begging for more of Mike Epps. His delivery and character was the only one – save for Paula Patton’s strong attempts to do something with her shallow role – that will keep the audience engaged. Although, if one enjoys basking in awkward moments, there are plenty of those to take in. The strange thing is, it’s tough to tell if they were supposed to be awkward, or funny. When the viewer can’t figure it out (and I had a packed house with me on this one), that means the direction and the majority of the characters failed to convey the material to us.

It’s a shame too, because there is talent here. Yet a lot of people (director, writers & performers) didn’t know how to harness it. I can’t remember the last time Loretta Devine’s sharp wit was unable to get people to react.

Overall, “Jumping the Broom” may be the worst directed movie of 2011. Aside from a few laugh out loud instances, the story is a disaster and the quick tie-ups to all the angles were careless. Much like the shotgun wedding depicted in the flick, this felt like a rush job.

Technical: D

Overall: D+

Review by Joe Belcastro