Just Wright (2010)

Hollywood has turned many a hip-hop artist into an actor over the past two decades. Whilst some were surprisingly decent (Tupac, Mos Def and LL Cool J spring to mind), the majority were somewhat painful to watch (Eminem, 50 Cent, DMX). Queen Latifah lies in the former category, she's likable, funny and has a lot of screen presence. The same cannot be said for her Just Wright co-star, hip-hop artist Common. In his first starring role he seems to have channelled Keanu Reeves in his heyday, stare blankly and the audience will fill in the emotion you're trying to convey. It's somewhat surprising that his performance is stilted considering he was being guided by Sanaa Hamri, director of The Sisterhood of the travelling Pants 2........Exactly.

Latifah plays Leslie Wright, a sports physiotherapist who, wait for it, just can't seem to get a man! We know this because its explained to us roughly 14 times in the first 25 minutes. Her god-sister Morgan, played by Paula Patton, is beautiful but shallow and the guys always seem to go for her. To quote one of Common's collaborators, Kanye West; 'She a golddigga'. Her main aim in life is to bag an NBA all-star and become a ballers wife. Scott McKnight is the New Jersey Nets finest player, so when the two girls get invited to his exclusive birthday bash, who does McKnight choose but Morgan. Poor Queenie. After a whirlwind romance the two get engaged. All seems to be going to Morgan's plan until McKnight suffers a possibly career ending injury. Imagining that her multi-millionaire NBA star fiancé will somehow become penniless because of this, Morgan decides to leave him. In steps Leslie Wright to nurse him back to health with a Rocky style training montage. Their blossoming romance is painfully explained to us in a scene where McKnight spoon-feeds Leslie some chicken soup. After his heroic comeback game Morgan appears on the scene once again but McKnight chooses his true love. In the end they're all friends. Ah.

Whilst its not insultingly awful, Just Wright is so predictably formulaic that you have it figured out 10 minutes in and from there it's just a waiting game. In the Hollywood screenwriters edition of Microsoft Word there seems to be a template entitled 'Sports Rom-Com between $15M and $30M'. Change the sport to Baseball and the lead actress to Drew Barrymore and you basically have The Perfect Catch. I've never been a huge fan of romantic comedies, simply because there aren't many decent ones. Just Wright makes no attempts to push the boat out or break the rom-com mould in any way. Its is the film equivalent of a pot noodle meal, whilst its edible, it has no nutritional value whatsoever.