Queen Latifah, Eve, Jenifer Lewis
Like the last-minute barbecue it depicts, The Cookout has a thrown-together, slapdash feel. There are good times to be had if you're feeling expansive, but don't go expecting the cinematic equivalent of haute cuisine. This raucous comedy is built around what happens when a college basketball star (rapper Storm P, whose real name is Quran Pender) becomes the No. 1 NBA draft pick, buys a mansion in a gated community and invites his relatives to a cookout. The ensuing shenanigans poke fun at dope smoking, social climbing, would-be gangstas and conspiracy theorists. The jokes are broad, matching the performances. Latifah, playing a by-the-rules security guard, and Lewis, as the hoopster's protective mom, score the biggest laughs. Farrah Fawcett and Danny Glover, cast as an uptight married couple next door, seem, well, uptight. (PG-13)
