Down south, surrounded by old friends, Roscoe learns that the me-first philosophy promoted in his book and on his talk show doesn’t have many takers. Worse, he can’t shake lose from the competitive challenges of Clyde, who always bested him in childhood competitions and who still has the upper hand. On top of that, his reality-show star fiancée can’t stand the people he loves most. (Bianca’s reality-show connection serves primarily as a set-up for a few lame Survivor references later in the movie.) Will Roscoe revert to his polished TV-show persona and keep up appearances with his high-class fiancée, or will he embrace the simpler life and stop putting on airs?

For an artless comedy, Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins could have been pleasantly harmless. Instead, it nods toward family values while reveling in crude gags about sex, dog love and religious sanctimony. Its abundance of casual profanity is played for laughs, designed to make the entire package go down easier.

However, it doesn’t work. Despite a few words of wisdom from Roscoe’s father (James Earl Jones)—who reminds his son of the importance of family and friends, and who stresses that marriage is about more than just the wedding day—the plot is pedestrian and the humor generally crass.

How so many talented actors ended up in this movie is a mystery. Many of the big names have only a few lines and are limited mainly to reaction shots. In short, they’re wasted in a film that leaves viewers cold. This Home has too little heart and not enough warmth.

Questions? Concerns? Contact the writer at crosswalkchristian@earthlink.net.

CAUTIONS:

• Language/Profanity:  Lord’s name taken in vain; profanity, often played for laughs; racial epithets.
• Drugs/Alcohol:  Drinking at a party; a pregnant woman says her doctor said it was OK for her to have a glass of wine.
• Sex/Nudity:  An abundance of crude references to sex, including clips from Roscoe’s Jerry Springer-style talk show; Roscoe and his fiancée have loud sex, and they joke about “speaking in tongues” during the throes of passion; Roscoe is said to have fathered a child before he was ready for the responsibility; a man stares at a woman’s back side; some sexual role-playing is hinted at; implication that a woman has shaved her loved one’s initials into her pubic hair.
• Violence:  A foul ball hits a spectator; discussion of “tazing” kids; a woman punches a man, who punches her back, tackles her and pulls her hair out.
• Religion:  Multiple references to attempts to be a “good Christian,” but usually this is a set-up for a gag in which the character then does or says something very un-Christ-like; after he turns down pork barbeque, Roscoe is asked whether he’s become a Muslim; grace is offered before a meal.