Just Wright (2010)

Simply A Masterpiece

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

A very buxom Queen Latifah should have lost some weight before doing this film. After all, she portrays a physical therapist and the last time I looked, these people are usually on the slim side.The story is Helen Trent-like. Can a woman of 35 find happiness? (Remember the radio show where Helen Trent was the woman who at 35 was thwarted by love?) This seems to be the case for Latifah until she finds love with an NBA star. He falls for her sister and it looks like love shall pass her by again, until he is injured and learns to appreciate what true love means and what it doesn't mean.Of course, when he regains his health his old flame returns. Doesn't that sound familiar? Of course, we know how the end turns out in this very predictable film.

The main problem with this romance movie was that the 2 leads didn't have a whole lot of chemistry. Sorry, but Queen Latifah is not believable as a 35 year old looking for Mr. Right. First of all, she looks older and is older than 35. Could they have not used her real age? And we all know she isn't looking for a mister. She is best as the best friend in a movie like this. Common, the rapper playing the basketball player, was OK, but is definitely wooden when it comes to acting.The movie plays sort of like a Cinderella story, but I'm afraid it's not going to come true for most. Paula Patton plays the gold digger best friend and is so shallow. They should have used her character more for more laughs.FINAL VERDICT: I'd skip it.

Both Leslie Wright and cousin Morgan Alexander are big Nets fans; however while Leslie is a fan of the team, Morgan is more interested in landing herself a husband and becoming a NBA-wife. When Leslie chances upon a meeting at a gas station with loyal Nets point guard Scott McKnight, she gets an invite to his birthday party and of course Morgan springs into action. Morgan has the looks to capture her man but Leslie appears to have more in common with him. When Scott gets injured, Leslie is employed as live-in physiotherapist supporting his attempts to save his NBA career.I didn't expect Just Wright to be a great film but I was happy to meet it on its own genre ground and play by its rules. The reason for this was my ongoing interest in Common's acting career; this is perhaps founded in bitterness since he has only done one album since he started focusing on the acting (and it was rubbish) – so I'm keen to see the projects that make the loss (IMO) of such a great artist worthwhile. Since he was the leading man here I thought perhaps this would be the one. The problems with it start immediately as the plot is overly messy, getting a lot of establishment done very quickly – meeting Scott, proposing to Morgan, getting injured, getting Leslie into the job; all work done just to get to the "once they spend time together they find one another" part of the film that we all know is coming. This rather serious and rapid stuff gives the first half of the film an overly earnest air that it doesn't warrant, can't carry and never escapes.The second half of the film see the film become about the professional couple of Leslie and Scott and this focuses on them being together and finding a chemistry. It is obvious and a bit cheesy but it is what the whole film should have been like (and the film be only 90 minutes long as well). However this is not to say that this part is particularly good either – the main problem is that the material is not particularly inspired, nor is it particularly charming. It is this second quality that is missing most because this sort of film needs charm to make the formula work. Sadly the material doesn't produce it and the chemistry between the two leads is not all it should be.This is not down to Latifah though, because she works her sparkle for every last drop – she literally gives 100% in every scene and it does show. Common, on the other hand, misjudges his material – partly because he has to deal with more of the "earnest plotting" in the first half. He carries his character too serious and too earnestly to get the mood right. He works "OK" with Latifah but the chemistry just doesn't work as well as it should and it is partly his fault. Patton looks good despite having a terrible character who is all about being a plot device in the weaker first half. Meanwhile the cast is packed with faces from black entertainment (Rashad, Grier) and lots of NBA players showing up – presumably to make the film more marketable thanks to their presence.Just Wright does start to get a bit better in the second half when the messy and serious plot setting is done and Latifah's sheer work-rate starts to win the viewer over, but she cannot do it alone and indeed she doesn't. It is not an awful film but it should have been more formula focused, stayed closely to the genre and have delivered the material to match the effort put in by Latifah. Sadly this is another film that makes Universal Mind Control feel like an even worse album than it was.

Queen Latifah is Leslie Wright, physical therapist, nice and generous but in her mid-30s with no male prospects in sight. By sheer chance she meets an all-star basketball player for the NJ Nets, at a filling station when he doesn't know how to access his filler cap. That she happens to be a lifelong basketball fan makes things more interesting.Music artist and rapper Common is that star basketball player, Scott McKnight. After his encounter with Leslie, and seeing how nice she is, he invited her to join a big group at his home for a birthday celebration. Paula Patton is Leslie's cousin, Morgan Alexander, a pretty lady who has only one ambition, spend money on shopping and finding a wealthy husband so that she can spend even more money on shopping. She insinuates herself into the situation and manages to get Scott to fall for her. Leslie is disappointed because once again a shallow guy chooses the pretty girl over the better girl, but things turn around when Scott has a serious knee injury, requiring surgery, only 3 months before the playoffs are to begin. By this time Morgan has moved in with Scott, and doesn't like the pretty physical therapist assigned to Scott, so she gets Leslie into the job. Leslie does a super job, works Scott hard, to get him ready for the playoffs, which no one thought possible.Common, as it turns out, was already a pretty good basketball player, and his father had played in the old ABA, so he didn't require a double for any of the basketball action against legit NBA players. Not a great movie by any stretch, but a nice rom-com, better than its current low IMDb rating would indicate. Each actor does a fine job.SPOILERS: Morgan ditches Scott after his injury, no longer seeing his as her meal ticket. Leslie and Scott get closer. When Scott returns and is the hero of the playoffs, Morgan tries to get back in his favor by he has become wise to her. In the end he and Leslie fall in love and head towards being a couple.