The simple fact is that I hold African-American films to a different standard. It might not be fair, but I want and expect more from them. We kick out so many awful, insulting movies every year that there really isn't any other way for me to look at them. There's a desire to find the hidden gem, the Night Catches Us
amongst a sea of Next Day Airs
. Even Tyler Perry movies are met with a critical eye, and perhaps moreso because of their mainstream status. Those who know me recognize that I'm no fan of Perry's work, mainly because I feel he doesn't enlighten his audience, he coddles them with junk food wrapped in a healthy coating. There are better way to present his brand of entertainment, and Jumping the Broom is a solid example of African-American cinema that embraces traditions and does it in a way everyone can relate to.The story is something we've all seen before and centers around two families from opposite sides of the tracks. Sabrina(Paula Patton) is a woman desperate to find love wherever she can, jumping from man to man to do so. After another fling doesn't turn out the way she wants, she makes a vow of celibacy until marriage. Just then, she literally crashes into Jason(Laz Alonso), a suave but rough around the edges guy who turns out to be the man of her dreams. There's just one little problem. She's just been offered a job in China that she simply can't refuse. So with the aid of El DeBarge belting out a few notes in the background, Jason pops the big question.
The impending nuptials are a disaster in the making. Sabrina's family has mad loot, and her mom(Angela Bassett) is used to getting her way no matter what the cost. Jason, while certainly refined, comes from blue collar stock. His mom(Loretta Devine, who I swear is in all these movies) is afraid her baby boy is giving up his roots for a taste of the high life. She turns her nose up at these rich folks right from the moment she arrives at Sabrina's palatial estate.
Typical "fish out out of water" stuff is on the horizon, with Jason's family looking like classless ogres, and Sabrina's clan looking like stuck up snobs. While this stuff isn't going to win anybody over, the reason why the film works is that the script by Arlene Gibbs and Elizabeth Hunter isn't content with creating cardboard sitcom characters. With the exception of Julie Bowen as the jive-talkin' wedding planner, everybody else feels very real. So much so that you might be surprised at just how funny the film is. I've never laughed so hard at Mike Epps in my life, and it's mainly because he's so restrained. There's a concerted effort to not simply be a story about clashing social classes, but to show how our traditions can unite us. All of this is accomplished without getting too preachy and bogging the film down.
Produced by the Reverend T.D. Jakes, who has his own little corner of the market opposite Tyler Perry, Jumping the Broom never succumbs to soap opera theatrics and melodrama. Somebody might want to teach Perry a lesson in how it's done.
