This is How Movies Should Be Made

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

What kind of judge has a huge estate that rivals anything available in Beverly Hills, CA? Has he got something going on the side? We never know. The premise of the film is thin and moves at break-neck speed, perhaps so viewers won't recognize the story-line is bereft of focus. There's little for the viewer to connect with.The rookie director just didn't bring out actor-ability or premise texture. You just wanted to grind ahead, hoping something up front would be better than the humorless scenes that passed. Even Tyler Williams (from TV's "Everybody Hates Chris") seemed out of place and overdone. The film really needed the likes of ice Cube to loosen it up and send it on a much more plausible and amusing entertainment trip.A funny film?? Who says? ~mm

"Peeples" is an awkward meet-the-parents-type of comedy, that unfortunately doesn't really stand out in any particular way compared to the many other movies in the same genre that has come and gone over the years.The story is about Wade (played by Craig Robinson) who travel to pay a surprise visit to his girlfriend Grace Peeples (played by Kerry Washington) while she is visiting her family in the Hamptons. The Peeples seem to have it all, but things are not entirely picture-perfect underneath the surface, and situations boil over as Wade enters the picture.The situations in the movie are good enough and there is an occasional laugh to be found here and there, but be warned that the movie will not have you laughing constantly throughout the entire length.As for the people on the cast list, then they had put together a good ensemble of people for the various roles, and each did bring something unique to the movie. And the chemistry between the various characters (and actors) be it for a good or bad situation was working quite well. It was David Alan Grier, who played the father in the movie, who was doing the best performance here and carried most of the movie.However, I am rating "Peeples" a mere 5 out of 10 stars, because it never stepped out of mediocrity, and truth be told, then there are far better comedies in this particular genre. But still, it is good for a laugh or two if you have nothing better to do.

I avoided this movie because initial reviews were mixed and I let them get to me. Sadly, they were right. Despite Kerry Washington, who proves she will do her best to work with whatever script she has faith in; Craig Robinson, who is growing on me; and seeing S. Epatha Merkerson, Tyler James Williams, David Alan Grier and Diahann Carroll, they really didn't/couldn't make the script work. They certainly gave it their best efforts, but in the end it felt cheesy and like an utter disappointment.To begin, all of the Peeples family, maybe sans Merkerson's character, all have quite the grandeur jobs which immediately make you think the film is going for a Cosby Show type family dynamic. The dad Virgil (played by David Alan Grier) is a federal judge; Daphne (played by S. Epatha Merkerson) is a one album singer who gave up her life for family; their daughter Grace (played by Kerry Washington) is a lawyer at the United Nations; her sister Gloria (played by Kali Hawk) is a journalist; and their little brother Simon (played by Tyler James Williams) is a high school kid with a penchant for math to the point he got a perfect score on the math portion of the SATs. Thing is, unlike The Cosby Show, the family doesn't have a lot of chemistry with one another and their secrets, which drive the story, are glazed on top of them like some oily lotion. Meanwhile, Wade (played by Craig Robinson) is just this guy who does children shows about expressing themselves rather than pissing on themselves.As the story goes, Wade is in love with Grace, but she has basically been keeping Wade a secret from her high achieving family. So, when she goes off for "Moby Dick Day," he follows her and shows up at her father's lake house home. From there, Wade learns no one knows anything about him, but everyone, except Virgil, ends up accepting him with open arms. The reason why Virgil doesn't like Wade? Well, mostly patriarchy, but also because of a complex seemingly passed down from his father. So, the story is filled with family issues dealing with secrets and issues which could have been really compelling, but the film refuses to ever get serious.But, despite the tone of this review, it did have some funny moments. Robinson delivers a few good lines and in total I laughed about 10 times; but considering this movie tries to be a straight comedy, that isn't a good thing. Also, I did find myself enjoying the film in the beginning, it was just as time went on I felt like I walked into a film where there wasn't clear direction on what was the goal, sort of speak.What I mean by this is, the film has a few interesting topics which I felt deserved more effort in terms of writing. One character is dealing with coming out to their parents; another with trying to deal with identifying as Black, while trying to meet the ideals of a White society; and there are a slew of other secrets and issues which get glossed over for the sake of weak comedy. To me, it would have been nice for this to be a dramedy or something similar, but instead it gives us such potentially interesting characters who have decent actors playing them, and all that potential is pushed aside for bad jokes and situational comedy. Add onto the issues, this film really points out, despite her work on Scandal, that Kerry Washington does not have the type of versatility to handle comedy. She can have her moments, but in a straight up comedy film she seems like she tries, and tries so much that it becomes her trying to convince you of something she is not, one of which she is not funny.Overall: Skip ItFilms like these are the ones which make you feel like they are hoping a slew of famous names and the fact the cast is Black will at least get a Black audience to support it and make it profitable. Add on Tyler Perry's stamp and it makes you almost want to throw blame at him, but with his films actually facing the characters' issues, I can't even throw him under the bus. Peeples is simply one of those films which seem good on paper. It has a great cast, could have a decent story, but somewhere down the line something went wrong and with Washington being on Scandal and Robinson having This is The End, I guess they were hoping to cash in on their names and get themselves a hit. Instead, all that was made was another disappointing feature which fuels the reason not many casts have this many African-Americans working in them at one time.

Wow. I was so impressed with this film I created an IMDb account just to rate it! The trailer really didn't do it any justice at all. After the first five minutes, things really got going and I never stopped laughing. I honestly didn't expect much from the movie and went out to support the actors and director-because I love them. When I say this movie will have you bursting with laughter I'm not lying! Aside from that, Kerry Washington has never looked more stunning. I was literally in awe of her beauty the whole time-she showed up and showed out! David Alan Grier has never been funnier. The son truly stole the show. And of course, the lead character Wade had crazy good comedic timing. With that said, I'm not going to lie there were a few awkward moments in the first five minutes. But everything after that made up for it. I think it is receiving low ratings because some people genuinely don't like Tyler Perry at this point. And, the film featured some content Perry's loyal fans might not be used to. It's their loss. Everyone involved should be proud of this film. This is going down as a classic in my book-one of those movies where black life would be different, less lush, less rich and less funny without it! I wish I were a Peeples. I can't wait to buy the DVD!@lona