![]() And, amazingly, comedian Mike Epps’ delivers a refreshingly subtle yet memorable performance.įocused on the whirlwind romance, engagement, and wedding of Jason Taylor (Laz Alonso) and Sabrina Watson (Paula Patton), Jumping the Broom takes on a series challenges and beliefs that are linchpins of the African American community: family, marriage, gender roles, and, wait for it, identity politics for black women. Jakes recruited some of the best eye candy on the planet for his leading roles – Laz Alonso, Pooch Hall, Gary Dourdan, and Romeo Miller, rapper Master P’s now grown son who I swore if I kept looking at him I’d go to jail for harassing a minor. Not because I was taken over by the spirit or outraged by the film’s representations of black women. I was ready to voice my concerns throughout the movie like it was revival Sunday. Two of his works adapted into movies, Woman Thou Art Loosed and Not Easily Broken. Many of those renditions of “the word” are directed towards (black) women – Woman Thou Art Loosed, The Lady, Her Lover, and Her Lord, and Loose that Man and Let Him Go are only a sample of the titles Jakes released over the past 20 years. Jakes, a popular minister and founder of the megachurch The Potters House in Dallas, Texas, is known for his sermons and books about healing the human spirit, faith, and resilience. I expected to see a similar “woe the black woman” narrative. And Tyler Perry.Īs I watched Jumping the Broom, the latest film endeavor by Bishop T.D. In other words: when in doubt, talk about black women. First, though, there’s plenty of flirting and bickering among the couple’s respective relatives and friends.I’m often taken aback about the usual stories of black women: why black women can’t find (and keep) a man, why black women are angry and bitter, why black women can’t breathe on their own…apparently women of color are just a monolith of black problems and despair with hips. Jakes is one of the producers (and has a small role as the pastor performing the ceremony, of course), and because the film gives great weight to traditional values, you know that those in favor of broom-jumping are the good guys who will probably win out in the end. Claudine and her husband (Brian Stokes Mitchell) didn’t jump the broom when they got married they believe their family is too sophisticated for that, so Sabrina and Jason don’t need to do it, either.īut because the Bishop T.D. One of the first things they fight about is the broom - the one Pam wants her son and Sabrina to jump over at their wedding to carry on a proud tradition that dates to a time in America when slaves weren’t allowed to marry. These two formidable actresses deserve better characterization and dialogue than they get here it would be exciting to see how they could tear into each other with smarter, stronger material. You know she’s down to Earth because she’s a Brooklyn postal worker who’s appalled that they’re not serving greens at the rehearsal dinner. Loretta Devine gets some laughs as Jason’s mother, Pam. You know she’s cultured because she likes to drop French phrases throughout her speech and she’s placed wasabi-covered peanuts in the guests’ gift baskets. But plot contrivances in the script from Elizabeth Hunter and Arlene Gibbs keep their respective families from meeting until the day before the wedding - a classy affair beneath a tent at the Watsons’ New England compound.Īngela Bassett has some withering moments as Sabrina’s mother, Claudine. Instantly, they’re smitten and in no time, they’re engaged. She meets cute with a Wall Street up-and-comer, Alonso’s Jason Taylor, when she hits him with her car. Patton plays Sabrina Watson, a New York corporate lawyer who’s enjoyed a privileged upbringing. The first feature from director Salim Akil, a veteran of the TV series “Girlfriends,” presents the culture clashes that occur between two black families - one old-moneyed, the other blue-collared - when they’re about to be united through marriage. And then it’s time to hit the dance floor. In “Jumping the Broom,” the forgiveness comes as quickly as the bombshell. The third act alone will make your head spin, with shocking revelations about family history and identity that it would probably take the average person years to sort through in therapy.
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