Peeples

COMEDY

Fitting In

7.5 out of 10 | Rental

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Rated: PG-13 Sexual content, drug material and language
Release Date: May 10, 2013
Runtime: 1 hour 35 minutes

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Director: Tina Gordon Chism
Writers: Tina Gordon Chism
Cast: Craig Robinson, Kerry Washington, David Alan Grier, S. Epatha Merkerson, Tyler James Williams, Melvin Van Peebles, Diahann Carroll, Kali Hawk, Kimrie Lewis-Davis, Ana Gasteyer

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SYNOPSIS:  Sparks fly when Wade Walker crashes the Peeples annual reunion in the Hamptons to ask for their precious daughter Grace's hand in marriage.

REVIEW: Drumline screenwriter Tina Gordon Chism returns to writing duties with a new Tyler Perry produced flick. This time, Chism takes the reigns as the director of her own words, as well.

Wade Walker (Craig Robinson, Hot Tub Time Machine) is in love with reaching youngsters through silly songs, counseling them to be vocal and proud, and in love with a beautiful woman named Grace Peeples (Kerry Washingtion, Django Unchained). When Grace goes out to Sag Harbor in the Hamptons to be with her family for the annual Moby Dick day festivities, she leaves Wade home. Wanting to make a good impression and wanting to propose marriage to Grace, Wade takes its upon himself to venture out to the Peeples residence to meet the parents. When Wade realizes that Grace has never spoken to her parents about Wade or their relationship, Wade finds himself fighting an uphill battle for acceptance. Surrounded by Grace's well-bred rich parents and siblings, Wade finds out more than he bargained of the secrets the Peeples are keeping from each other. Whether Wade can hold his tongue against the backlash from Judge Peeples, or use it to his advantage, will have to be seen.

Craig Robinson, from The Office and Hot Tub Time Machine, takes on his first starring role in a feature film. His character plays to his strengths with music and singing, and being the overweight fish out of water. Robinson character goes straight from Manhattan Island to the well-to-do town of Sag Harbor a place mentioned in Herman Melville's classic tale of man against sea beast.

Peeples is a cross between Meet the Parents, The Proposal, and Jumping the Broom, focusing on the mismatch of a struggling or misunderstood boyfriend/fiancee dealing and struggling against the superior rich and well-to-do family of the woman he loves. With every family - rich or poor - there's always secrets kept and secrets revealed. David Alan Grier's (Dance Flick) Judge Virgil Peeples is a man to be feared and loved by his family. But in most of the cases fear comes first. Everyone tiptoes around Virgil, creating chaos and dysfunction with both his wife and kids. From wife Daphne (S. Epatha Merkerson, Lincoln) recovering from alcohol and 'herbs', to klepto son Simon (Tyler James Williams, Go On), to sister Gloria (Kali Hawk, Bridesmaids) concerned about revealing her sexual orientation, the Peeple's family as plenty to worry about beyond the problems of Wade Walker brings to their home.

The story is a romantic comedy, although most of the comedy comes from Craig Robinson's physicality and facial expressions, Williams' insistence on being called Sy instead of Simon and his perchance for bedroom rapper as an act of rebellion against his parents, and Wade's brother Chris (Malcolm Barrett, Larry Crowne) brings the 'street' to the harbor.

Peeples is a tamer and lighter version of Meet the Parents. The physical comedy is silly, the situations not too outlandish, and the storyline mostly above board. Robinson shows that he can carry the film as the leading man facing off against David Alan Grier, although it helps to have a decent supporting cast around you.

On a technical note, some of the camerawork was too soft at times, the camera seemingly out of focus for the wrong reasons. And strange cuts to black seemed a few seconds too long, with no consistency to other fades that occur throughout the story. Somewhere in an editing bay a little more fine-tuning was needed.

Peeples entertains in a lighthearted way with a silly story. Not as strong as other films in the genre, It still will appeal to some who want something to chuckle at.

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Django Unchained

DRAMATIC ACTION/ADVENTURE

Off the Chain

★ ★ ★ 1/2 out of 5 | Movie - DVD - Rental

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Rated: R Strong graphic violence, language and some nudity.
Release Date: December 25, 2012
Runtime: 2 hours 21 minutes

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Director: Quentin Tarantino
Writers: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Walton Goggins, Dennis Christopher, James Remar

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SYNOPSIS: With the help of a dentist looking for information on wanted men, a slave-turned-bounty hunter sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner.

REVIEW: Festival darling with Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, instant legend writer/director Quentin Tarantino has set the standard with his unique pulpy cinematic exploitation films. He continued with Kill Bill: Vol I and II, Grindhouse, and his history skewing Inglourious Basterds. What genre hasn't he properly tackled? It looks like the western is still fertile ground for Tarantino's unique touch. Writing and directing Django Unchained will surely add all of Tarantino's flair. And look, Quentin may finally get a chance to have his characters use guns! 

Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz, The Three Musketeers) interrupts two slavers walking a group of newly bought slaves to their new owners. Schultz questions Django (Jamie Foxx, Horrible Bosses) about a group of three brothers who are wanted by the law, hoping that Django would be able to recognize these men if he were to see them again. Taking ownership of Django, Schultz and he ride through Texas and into Tennessee in pursuit of their bounty. Once their task is complete, Shultz offers to teach Django what he knows of the bounty trade and promises to help find to whom Django's wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington, A Thousand Words) was sold to. Checking official documents, Schultz and Django uncover that plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar) paid for Broomhilda, and hatch a plan to buy her back.

Quentin Tarantino returns to the helmer's chair to offer us his version of the Wild West. Clint Eastwood may have had his day as the new modern western standard as The Man with No Name in Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns, but Tarantino twists the genre around to give Jamie Foxx's Django a chance to create a new modern interpretation on the classic gunslinging motif. Bullets still fly, vengeance is still sought, and the real good guys do not have to wear white hats. Some of the classic visuals are still in play - the snow capped mountains in the distance, the silhouettes of horsemen trailing into a burning gold and magenta sunset, the long pan shots of men on horseback on a long trek, and the twitching fingers dangling an inch above a holstered six-shooter.

What Tarantino does in Django Unchained is what he does best. Growing up in the video rental shops, his love for exploitation films is still evident. From the bright red of the title sequence to the story-filling sing song of Django's ballad, you would think you were on set for a lost Shaft in the desert movie. Mixing classic western background music with 70s folk with current day rap, Tarantino uses all the right chords to convey his thematic western message.

Cowboys, bounty hunters, and even plantation owners, are a dirty bunch. Spitting onto anything but a spittoon, bathing one a month if one needs it or not - the trails are dusty and the bodies unwashed. Only the most beautiful are pulled out from the wretches, while the rest are sent to toil in the fields. Calvin Candie's Candie Land sits in the bowels of Mississippi, marble rising from the dirt like a pale jewel in a mossy grove of trees. Every character, from Candie minion Billy Crash (Walton Goggins, Lincoln) and family lawyer Leonide Moguy (Dennis Christopher, Deadwood), to house slave Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson, The Avengers) and Pinkerton-esque Butch Pooch (James Remar, Transformers: Dark of the Moon), has a layer of grit or the weight of the world on their shoulders.

The standouts of Django Unchained are Christoph Waltz's Dr King Schultz, Leonardo Dicaprio's Calvin Candie, and Samuel L. Jackson's Stephen. Sure, Jamie Foxx struts a mean rug, but I could listen and watch Waltz all day. Just like in Inglourious Basterds, Waltz mesmerizes with every stride and eloquent utterance. Dicaprio, as the power-hungry and vindictive slave and plantation owner, is as smooth and lethal as a near slumbering bear protecting its honey. His southern charm covers a simmering hatred for most things not his own. And Samuel L. Jackson, and Candie's head house slave Stephen, may be the most vile of them all. His "Uncle Tom" position may give him the rule of the homestead and the help while Candie is away, but his loyalties to his owner is only matched by his self-preservation.

Django Unchained is an uber-violent western effort from the mind of Tarintino - just as you would expect it would be. Funny, irreverent, clever, bloody, sometimes unnecessary, Django will not disappoint QT fans. Maybe not his best work from his canon of films, this western certainly stands out as a little more controversial than most.

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A Thousand Words

Life is a Journey

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Rated: PG-13 Sexual situations, language, dialogue and some drug-related humor.
Release Date: March 9, 2012
Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins

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Director:  Brian Robbins

Writers: Steve Koren
Cast:  Eddie Murphy, Kerry Washington, Cliff Curtis, Clark Duke, Allison Janney

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SYNOPSIS: Literary agent Jack McCall uses his bravado and big mouth to wheel and deal. After stretching the truth on a deal with a spiritual guide, Jack is confronted with the sudden appearance of a Bodhi tree on his property that drops a leaf with every word Jack utters.

REVIEW: Brian Robbins, a frequent directing force behind such Eddie Murphy films as Norbit and Meet Dave, teams up with longtime comedy writer Steve Koren known for Bruce Almighty, Click and A Night at the Roxbury for the latest Eddie Murphy off-beat comedy. This this outing, Eddie Murphy's character has "1000 words left to discover what matters most". I wonder if he will succeed before the last leaf falls?

Apogee literary agent Jack McCall (Eddie Murphy, Tower Heist) goes through life trying to land the big deals using fast talking and saying whatever he needs to. Living in a slick, glass bachelor pad with a manicured lawn and open pool on a cliff overlooking the city. Wife Caroline (Kerry Washington, The Last King of Scotland) is forced to change the diaper of their son on the kitchen counter and just wishes that Jack would put their lives ahead of his life. Meanwhile, Jack looks to land the manuscript from spiritual guru Dr. Sinja (Cliff Curtis, Colombiana), assuring Sinja that he will do whatever it takes to spread the word that is contained in his written work. While doing do, Jack is poked by a splinter on the trunk of a Bodhi tree. After Jack receives a five-page pamphlet instead of a brilliant self-help book, he confronts Sinja - to no avail. Afterward, at home, the same Bodhi tree suddenly appears in his backyard. After he touches the tree and speaks, a leaf starts falling off the tree for each word Jack utters. As more and more leaves fall, Jack becomes weaker and more sickly. Sinja realizes that Jack now shares a symbiotic relationship with the tree, and should focus his efforts on understanding how to find the truth within himself and spend less time chattering away with empty words.

Eddie Murphy has almost become synonymous with off-beat comedies that focus on self-discovery and enlightenment with films like Daddy Day Care, Imagine That, and the first two Doctor Dolittle movies. And with Click writer Koren in writing duties, we come close to getting a film with much of the same tone, if not the same manic quality that Sandler brought to bear. Luckily, Murphy also has the Shrek movies and the most recent Tower Heist to balance out his work. In A Thousand Words Murphy falls back on his extensive 'mugging' talents, his character forced to act out his requests and come up with creative ways that do not cross the rules of the karmic cosmos. McCall cannot even write any words down to communicate without causing leaves to fall off the tree since writing down words would be too easy a way to dialogue.

Murphy's expressiveness and the silly situations he finds himself in at home, work and around time supplies audible laughs for the film. Joined with his trusty assistant Aaron Wiseberger (Clark Duke, Hot Tub Time Machine), Murphy's McCall gets himself as much trouble as he gets out of. Cliff Curtis shows his versatility by playing the quiet and reserved spiritual leader Sinja, trusting that truth will set McCall free before the last leaf falls. But the laughs and smiles are tempered with more deep rooted (pun intended) issues that McCall needs to face and address, including the issues with his wife, the approval he needs to be acknowledged for by an Alzheimer's-ridden mother Annie (Ruby Dee, American Gangster) who mistakes Jack for his own father each time he visits her.

A Thousand Words is not for all audiences. Not that the film is not good - I was pleasantly surprised. People looking for continuous over-the-top Eddie Murphy hilarity will be somewhat disappointed. Although humor abounds, the film is a balance of silly and serious. Unlike Click and Imagine That, A Thousand Words should appeal to and satisfy a more adult moviegoing crowd. Without the inclusion of a precocious child, the story is still light but with a more mature slant.

As each leaf falls from the Bodhi tree and its branches become more barren, Jack McCall's inconvenient audible situation becomes more dire. Full of silent expressions, charades-style dialogue, and handy props to aid him, Eddie Murphy makes a dramedy that delights and enlightens, all along the journey's road that is our lives.

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WORTH: Matinee or DVD