| The Cookout | |
| Director: | Lance Rivera |
| Screenplay: | Ramsey Gbelawoe Jeffrey Brian Holmes |
| Story: | Queen Latifah Shakim Compere Mikey Martin |
| Producer: | Shakim Compere Queen Latifah |
| Starring: | Ja Rule Tim Meadows Jenifer Lewis Storm P. Meagan Good Jonathan Silverman Farrah Fawcett Frankie Faison Eve Danny Glover Queen Latifah |
| Cinematography: | Tom Houghton |
| Editing: | Patricia Bowers Jeff McEvoy |
| Music: | Camara Kambon |
| Studio: | Lions Gate Films[1] Flavor Unit Entertainment |
| Distributor: | Lions Gate Films |
| Runtime: | 97 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $16 million[2] |
| Gross: | $12,009,070[3] |
The Cookout is a 2004 American comedy film directed by Lance Rivera, written by Queen Latifah, Shakim Compere and Mikey Martin. The film introduces Quran Pender (credited as "Storm P") as Todd Anderson and stars Ja Rule, Tim Meadows, Jenifer Lewis, Meagan Good, Jonathan Silverman, Farrah Fawcett, Frankie Faison, Eve, Danny Glover, and a special appearance by Latifah. It tells the story of a basketball player who has joined the New Jersey Nets which his parents celebrate with a family cookout at his new home while a former classmate comes up with a devious plot.
This was the last film for both Carl Wright and Farrah Fawcett before their respective deaths in 2007 and 2009. The film was met with mixed reviews.
In 2011, there was a sequel called The Cookout 2.
Todd Andersen (Quran Pender) has just signed a 5-year/$30 million contract with his hometown basketball team the New Jersey Nets. He purchases many new luxuries for himself and his family including a new house in a well-established, high-class neighborhood called Garden Ridges Estates for him and his gold-digging girlfriend Brittany (Meagan Good).
Keeping with family tradition, Todd and his parents Em and JoJo (Jenifer Lewis and Frankie Faison) decide to host a regular family cookout in his new place. He does not plan for it to clash with an important business meeting for an endorsement deal which his sports agent Wes (Jonathan Silverman) arranges with Stone Mountain Phones representative Miss Peters (Marci Reed).
The meeting is scheduled to take place in the morning while the guests are to arrive in the afternoon. One by one, members of Todd's eccentric family like stoner cousins Willie and Nelson (Jerod Mixon and Jamal Mixon), country cousins Jerome and Jasper (Shawn Andrew and Godfrey), wannabe lawyer Uncle Leroy (Tim Meadows), Todd's grandfather (Carl Wright), cousin Little Dee (Denee Busby) and her kids, and Em's sister Nettie (Rita Owens) alongside her husband Frank (Reg E. Cathey) and pre-med intellectual son Jamal (Kevin Phillps) begin to arrive before the afternoon disrupting his business interview. As Em keeps Brittany busy with a ham-related errand, neighbors Judge Crowley (Danny Glover) and his wife Eileen (Farrah Fawcett) are drawn to the cookout.
Meanwhile, local hood Bling Bling (Ja Rule) is jealous that his former classmate Todd has made it with his basketball contract, especially after being insulted and embarrassed in front of the neighborhood when Todd gave him a nod earlier when out with Jamal. He and his friend Wheezer (Ruperto Vanderpool) plan to get many pairs of sneakers signed by the upcoming star to sell on eBay and become rich. Whilst on their way to Todd's new house, they crash their car due to Wheezer, hitch a ride with a manure salesman (Vincent Pastore), and then try to steal a new Mercedes from a market parking lot, not realizing the car belongs to Brittany. After finding out, they hold her at gunpoint and force her to drive them to Todd's house.
As time goes on, Todd starts to become mainly concerned about his image as his family's antics begin making a poor impression on his neighbors, especially after Garden Ridges' security guard Mildred Smith (Queen Latifah) visits with a list of both their complaints and rules violations committed by his family. Eventually, Todd snaps and yells at everyone to leave.
Soon after, Todd's childhood friend Becky (Eve) arrives. Nettie talks to Em about their rivalry and Jamal not having plans to do basketball like Todd. Em encourages Nettie to be proud of Jamal's accomplishments in life no matter what they are. After a talk with Becky, Todd apologizes to his mother for losing his temper. She forgives him after settling her differences with Nettie and the departure of the non-relatives.
When Bling Bling and Wheezer invade the cookout to get Todd's autograph on the sneakers, the ensuing chaos makes Todd realize how much he needs his family. Bling Bling and Wheezer are defeated by Mildred, Jerome, and Jasper and are arrested by the police.
Todd then breaks up with Brittany after realizing her gold-digging ways and inability to connect with him and his family and starts dating Becky as DJ Enuff performs at the party. Todd is then shocked when Miss Peters, impressed by his family's unconditional love for him and each other, accepts him for the sponsorship deal as she makes out with Wes.
A postscript reveals that Todd scored 26 points in his debut in the New Jersey Mets and he and his fiancé Becky use the car bed he originally slept in during his childhood. Jamal completed med school and broke up with Brittany three times. Little Dee finally got a father figure for her kids and moved in next to Todd. Leroy failed his bar exam for the 16th time and his golf ball conspiracy book White Balls & White Devils was a New Jersey bestseller. Mildred left Garden Ridges and became a cop who gained a record of different tickets written out with the Andersons throwing a cookout in her honor.
The film opened on 1,303 screens, and opened at #8 in the box office with a gross of $5.1 million. After seven weeks, it ended with a domestic gross of $11.8 million and made $195,051 from foreign countries, for a worldwide total of $12 million against a budget of $16 million, becoming a box-office bomb.[4]
The film was panned by critics upon release. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a rating of 5%, based on 42 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "Good-natured but prepared with an absence of craft, The Cookout is an unappetizing collection of warmed-over jokes."[5] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 15 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike".[6]
On September 3, 2011, a sequel, The Cookout 2 premiered on BET. Quran Pender, Ja Rule, Frankie Faison, Rita Owens, and Denee Busby were the only cast members to reprise their roles. Despite the title, the plot itself is not about a cookout at all with the cookout occurring earlier in the film. Talk show host Wendy Williams had a brief cameo as reporter Piers Gabriel in the original. In the sequel, she makes a special guest appearance as herself hearing about Todd's experiences in the film on her talk show. Charlie Murphy co-stars in the film as Coach Ashmokeem, the brother of Bling Bling (Rule). The rest of the principal cast consists of Freez Luv, Faizon Love, Big Boi, Jalen Rose, Michael K. Williams, Fat Joe, Jay Pharoah, Vivica A. Fox, and Mike Tyson.