Review of Jumping the Broom (2011) by Jared E — 09 Aug 2011

"Jumping the Broom" refers to an ancient custom of getting married. Loretta Devine, as Pam, the groom's mom insists on it. Not so, insists Angela Bassett as Claudine, the bride's mom. "Our family were not slaves. We owned slaves." Oh, no. The women begin a feud that will reveal family secrets, derail the marriage, and spoil the fun at Martha's Vineyard.

I didn't like the sitcom feel of the movie which is divergent between comedy and drama. Actually, it would be best to focus on the comedy with actors like Tasha Smith, DeRay Davis, and Romeo Miller providing smiles each time they open their mouths. The drama is mainly associated with Loretta Devine (who steals the movie), Angela Bassett (wasted in a supporting role), Paula Patton (overacting to make her character younger), and Laz Alonso (who looks good as a romantic lead). There's too many characters to keep track. However, I did enjoy Valarie Pettiford as Aunt Geneva, though she could have been given more screen time so we, the audience, could know her character better.

There's one scene that made me crinch. It's when Devine as a postal worker gets a text and stops work to complain to a co-worker, leaving customers on line. That's not funny and bad writing. It would have been better to text her future sister-in-law with a reply like "Bitch, I'm busy now so call me later." Besides social and economic differences, there's also modern vs traditional communication as Devine feels slighted with texts, e-mails, and not invited to a dinner at a restaurant. The movie is well photographed with Martha's Vineyard looking appealing although I noticed the skies were clouded. Not sure, if that's intentional or an omen that even bright weddings are clouded with family tension.