Just Wright

JUST WRIGHT

STARRING: Queen Latifah, Common, Paula Patton, Pam Grier, James Pickens Jr. and Phylicia Rashad

WRITTEN BY: Michael Elliot

DIRECTED BY: Sanaa Hamri

Rated: PG
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Release Date: 14 May 2010
Review Date: 25 May 2010

It's been refreshing seeing so many romantic comedies as of late, that were not only good, but clean as well. Leap Year, Letters to Juliet and now Just Wright, have all been very tasty films and were all rated PG.

The adorable Queen Latifah who is one of the few people in Hollywood you can tell has a good soul just by looking at her; stars as Leslie Wright. All of Leslie's life, she has been the `friend' to charming and available guys. No one has ever wanted to be more than that with her in the end, and to add insult to injury, guys tend to fall for her best friend Morgan (Paula Patton).

Morgan is indeed beautiful, but then so is Leslie, and only an idiot wouldn't be able to smell Morgan's BS from a mile away. But then again there are a lot of idiots in the world, so this makes it easier for those of us with two or more brain cells watching, to accept this in the film.

To call Morgan high maintenance would be the understatement of the century. At least she is honest with Leslie about her intentions however, which was one of two small problems I had with this great film.

The first being that I just can't buy that Leslie would after all these years be friends with someone so manipulative and deceitful. Morgan has made it her mission in life, to wed a cash flow. Whereas Leslie you see, is basically every bit as sweet as the real Queen Latifah.

After Morgan fills Leslie in on her plan to snag an NBA player as her ATM of a husband, Leslie just so happens to run into such a man at a gas station following a game. His name is Scott McKnight and he plays for the Nets; which coincidentally is the team that Leslie is nuts about.

Common plays Scott, and the enthrallment is there from the get-go between both the actors and the characters they portray and lasts all the way till the credits. Taken aback by Leslie's unique charm, Scott invites her to a party.

Naturally, Leslie brings Morgan along with her, and Scott finds her intriguing. Morgan plays Scott like a fiddle and soon enough they are dating. Being such a sweetheart, Leslie is happy for Morgan and allows this to go on when Morgan expresses that she is truly developing feelings for Scott.

Leslie is a physical therapist and when Scott gets injured on the court, he hires her to move in and take care of him. Based on the description of Morgan's character and the necessary formula of romantic comedies, you can guess where it goes from there.

And it does go there, but we really enjoy the ride it takes us on along the way. The film doesn't force the inevitable down our throats, but slowly and innovatively leads us to the romance of Scott and Leslie.

I mentioned earlier that there were only two small problems I had with the film. The second one takes place in the third act and involves a ridiculous decision made by Scott. It took my like for the character down a notch or two, but those are tiny notches and both of these problems I had were minuscule to the overall effect the film had.

I've had my eye on Paula Patton for quite some time now; ever since I saw her in Déjà vu. She has a rare quality to her and I think she will do big things in the world of movies. In the small handful of mainstream films she has done, you can see a vast variety of talent. She is enduring and the fact that she makes us absolutely hate her as Morgan in this film, shows how truly talented she is.

Director Sanaa Hamri has gone from Something New; to Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2; to Just Wright; and each of them compliments her well. Insert offensively cheesy Just Wright one-liner here:

I love this movie so much. I have watched this movie at least 4 times since I purchased it. Every time I watch it I always feel so positive about meeting the right man for me. Queen Latifah and Common had such great chemistry. Paula Patton was just too cute and funny. James Pickens Jr., Phylicia Rashad and Pam Greir were so good as the parents. The story was so positive. It is too bad that Hollywood doesn't produce more postive movies about African-American relationships like this.

I believe Queen Latifah to be a gloriously fabulous lady, so I never turn down a chance to see a movie starring this fetching actress/performer. JUST WRIGHT is a predictable, formulaic, cliche-ridden rom-com; it's "twist" is the male romantic love interest happens to be an NBA superstar. (And Queen Latifah's character just happens to be a very capable physical therapist--can we guess where the plot is going?) But being an NBA fan, and furthermore being the fact several NBA stars appear in cameos as themselves (Dwight Howard, Dwayne Wade, and Rajon Rondo to name but a few), there is just enough sporting interest to keep me from having to turn in my man card watching this film.

Physical therapist Leslie Wright (Queen Latifah) has a heart of gold, and no pretenses when it comes to romance. And neither does her gorgeous best pal (a stunning Paula Patton), who is forever on the prowl for a bigtime sugar daddy. She finds one in New Jersey Nets All-Star (which is some sort of oxymoron, isn't it?) Scott McKnight (a very subdued Common), who falls for the manipulative friend at first sight--but who unceremoniously gets dumped by said friend upon suffering a career-threatening injury. Enter therapist Leslie, and a tender romance begins to bud, only to be challenged when scheming friend enters the triangle again--and we're left to wonder how long Scott will need to realize Leslie is the right woman for him. Again, it's all predictable, with as many tender and humorous moments as annoying ones, making JUST WRIGHT a rom-com watchable enough to make you want to take in an NBA playoff game. I'm still chuckling seeing an obvious New York in springtime when the film's setting calls for the NBA All-Star game, which is played in the dead of February. That global warming is just brutal.
--D. Mikels, Author, The Reckoning

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