The Cookout

Comedy

Ja Rule	Bling Bling
Tim Meadows	Leroy
Jenifer Lewis	Lady Em
Quran Pender	Todd Andersen
Jonathan Silverman	Wes
Meagan Good	Brittany
Farrah Fawcett	Mrs. Crowley
Frankie Faison	Jojo Andersen
Danny Glover	Judge Crowley
Ruperto Vanderpool	Wheezer
Vincent Pastore	Poo Salesman
Eve
Queen Latifah

Director	Lance Rivera
Producer	Shakim Compere; Queen Latifah; Otis Best; Darryl "Latee" French
Writer	Ramsey Gbelawoe; Laurie B. Turner; Queen Latifah; Shakim Compere

"The Cookout" has about as much plot as any cookout in the real world. People arrive, eat, interact and not much else. Todd Anderson (Quran Pender) is hosting the party to celebrate being an NBA first round draft pick, which does mean that reporters attend the barbecue as well. His girlfriend Brittany (Meagan Good) is more interest in his fame and fortune than himself, his agent Wes (Jonathan Silverman) is a slimeball, the white woman in the interracial relationship, Mrs. Crowley (Farah Fawcett) oppresses her black partner, and there are the obligatory rapper punk and ghetto dopers. Everyone, it seems, is a stereotype, black or white. Todd's mother is overbearing, the lawyer (Danny Glover) is a burnout who is "saved" by getting turned on to pot. Or maybe the problem with describing this plot is that there are so many subplots of little substance, one for every character it seems, that no pattern or thread holds them together. The party culminates in a sort of sermon about human nature and family ties. At least no animals were harmed.