Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008)

22% of critics liked it
(82 reviews)
64% of users liked it
(188,480 ratings)

A single father who has just found success as the host of an outrageous television talk show begins to question his path in life when he returns home to attend his parents' 50th wedding anniversary party in the company of his famous fiancée -- a reality television star -- in this… More A single father who has just found success as the host of an outrageous television talk show begins to question his path in life when he returns home to attend his parents' 50th wedding anniversary party in the company of his famous fiancée -- a reality television star -- in this crisis-of-conscience comedy starring Martin Lawrence. RJ Stevens (Lawrence) is a television talk-show sensation who has transcended his modest Southern beginnings to become the most popular self-help guru ever to grace the small screen. His show, "Team of Me," is a ratings juggernaut, his fiancée is a beautiful reality television star, and his pockets are always lined with large bills. There are few Tinseltown dreams that RJ hasn't already achieved, so when his parents announce their 50th wedding anniversary, the family-oriented television star immediately drops everything and sets his sights on Georgia. As a boy, RJ was always the target of ridicule within his family, but these days things are different; not only does RJ have a ten-year-old son, but his bride-to-be is admired by countless viewers all across the globe on a weekly basis. But RJ's egotistical West Coast attitude simply doesn't fly in the South, and when his lovable but relentless family refuses to cut him any slack due to his current superstar status, he must finally pause and take stock of the man he has become. Louis C.K., Cedric the Entertainer, Michael Clarke Duncan, and James Earl Jones co-star in a Southern-flavored family comedy written and directed by Malcolm D. Lee. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 54 min.
Directed By: Malcolm D. Lee
Written By: Malcolm D. Lee
Genres: Comedy

In Theaters: Feb 8, 2008 Wide
On DVD: Jun 17, 2008
Studio: Universal Pictures

Critic Reviews

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Actors such as Michael Clarke Duncan, Mo'Nique, Mike Epps and Cedric the Entertainer have been persuaded by writer-director Malcolm D. Lee to do crass routines that should have gone out with minstrel shows.
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
This is a loud, stupid, cliché-riddled mess.
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
A talented comedian, Lawrence has leaned all too easily on formula for his successful films. Imagine if he would test his flair against original and fresh premises, instead of the tried and trite.
Scott Bowles, USA Today
There's little to distinguish this oddly mean-spirited comedy.
Philip Marchand, Toronto Star
Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins reinforces the sense that movies are not about real life but about other movies.
Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle
The message - stay true to your roots - is solid, and [director] Lee gives his outstanding comic cast some sharp one-liners, but he undermines the effort with crass humor, mugging and slapstick.
Joshua Starnes, ComingSoon.net
Like a lot of Hollywood filler, Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins' mandate seems to be to entertain and satisfy as many people as possible by sticking to a tested and proven formula, the result of which is it does neither particularly well.
Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media
Good cast can't save stereotype-laden comedy.
Austin Kennedy, Sin Magazine
Easily Lawrence's best starring role. But keep in mind that's only compared to his other movies.
Kam Williams, Mount Desert Islander
An impressively pointless minstrel show.
Cynthia Fuchs, PopMatters
All this said, there's a not bad movie inside of Welcome Home, visible in the quiet center provided by Margaret Avery.
Jeff Bayer, Daily Herald (IL)
For all the comedians, there just aren't enough jokes unless you are shooting for the revolting variety.
Linda Cook, Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)
Uneven, tasteless and just not all that funny, 'Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins' is another non-stellar vehicle for Martin Lawrence.
James Rocchi, Cinematical
If Lee had actually directed his performers ... Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins probably would have been a better movie. But frantic flailing isn't consistent forward motion.
Frank Ochieng, World Voice News
Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins feels like a rudimentary retread of previously outrageous "black attack" farces... needlessly cluttered, unfocused and pointless...
Sean McBride, Sean the Movie Guy
a cast full of talented comedians and a director who obviously doesn't mind watching his cast go way over the top in search of raucous and randy laughs
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Crosses the worst of Tyler Perry's 'old-fashioned values' preachiness (minus the religious stuff) with the leering crudity of the standard Martin Lawrence vehicle.
Gina Carbone, Seacoast Newspapers (NH/Maine)
I laughed harder watching Norbit.
Jeffrey Lyles, Gazette (MD)
Great laughs with a great cast

Read all 19 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

Manu G

Going home is no vacation. The movie is funny and it's a nice family film. The story was nice and simple. Nice cast of actors and all were in sync which was a plus. Good movie to watch on TV or Rent. A single father who has just found success as the host of an outrageous… More
Going home is no vacation. The movie is funny and it's a nice family film. The story was nice and simple. Nice cast of actors and all were in sync which was a plus. Good movie to watch on TV or Rent. A single father who has just found success as the host of an outrageous television talk show begins to question his path in life when he returns home to attend his parents' 50th wedding anniversary party in the company of his famous fiancée -- a reality television star -- in this crisis-of-conscience comedy starring Martin Lawrence. RJ Stevens (Lawrence) is a television talk-show sensation who has transcended his modest Southern beginnings to become the most popular self-help guru ever to grace the small screen. His show, "Team of Me," is a ratings juggernaut, his fiancée is a beautiful reality television star, and his pockets are always lined with large bills. There are few Tinseltown dreams that RJ hasn't already achieved, so when his parents announce their 50th wedding anniversary, the family-oriented television star immediately drops everything and sets his sights on Georgia. As a boy, RJ was always the target of ridicule within his family, but these days things are different; not only does RJ have a ten-year-old son, but his bride-to-be is admired by countless viewers all across the globe on a weekly basis. But RJ's egotistical West Coast attitude simply doesn't fly in the South, and when his lovable but relentless family refuses to cut him any slack due to his current superstar status, he must finally pause and take stock of the man he has become. Louis C.K., Cedric the Entertainer, Michael Clarke Duncan, and James Earl Jones co-star in a Southern-flavored family comedy written and directed by Malcolm D. Lee.
Nicki M

Predictable. Guy wearing white suit drinking beetroot juice. Hmmm..wonder what might happen. Don't even start me on the "evil" girlfriemd. (We know she's evil because she doesn't want to "ruin" her figure having kids, and doesn't enjoy being… More
Predictable. Guy wearing white suit drinking beetroot juice. Hmmm..wonder what might happen. Don't even start me on the "evil" girlfriemd. (We know she's evil because she doesn't want to "ruin" her figure having kids, and doesn't enjoy being around her partners quite uncouth family and - shock ,horror - wants nice things in life). This is just the same old family values trash that's been done to death - contrived and unconvincing
Ginny

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Dean M

Martin Lawrence is brilliant and bloody hilarious in this sensational funniest film of the black family. Great cast including the legendary James Earl Jones and the beautiful Nicole Ari Parker, but nobody's quite as good, or as funny as Martin Lawrence himself. But I dislike… More
Martin Lawrence is brilliant and bloody hilarious in this sensational funniest film of the black family. Great cast including the legendary James Earl Jones and the beautiful Nicole Ari Parker, but nobody's quite as good, or as funny as Martin Lawrence himself. But I dislike Mo'Nique in her character because she's a bloody bitchest sister making rude at the front of the family.
Bruce B

Sorry to say very dissapointing, And Pay$9.00 to see it. Oh man its a wait till the $1.50 theather has it.
Fascade F

This movie was good. Slapstick and humor are the main pipelines of this movie. See this if you want to get into the Roscoe Jenkins family pipeline of comedy. James Earl Jones comes out fo retirement for this one. It's all good.
Joseph E

This film wasn't all that funny, but the scehs that were funny, were Hysterical, and Outrageous. This is Lawerence doing his Bawdy Humor that got him famous. Worth atleast One watch. It isn't all sterotypical, and one-liners that pierce many egos, but it is all the fast… More
This film wasn't all that funny, but the scehs that were funny, were Hysterical, and Outrageous. This is Lawerence doing his Bawdy Humor that got him famous. Worth atleast One watch. It isn't all sterotypical, and one-liners that pierce many egos, but it is all the fast paced humotr that appeared throughout the whole film.
Philip P

A very generic family reunion comedy, but the hilarious cast raises the laugh level to very high and although the story is run of the mill it is still a nice one to rent and watch on a sunday afternoon. A nice one as long as everyone is over 13!
Yinalí R

This movie is absolutely hillarious, it made me laugh and cry.
William G

This film is, how you say, a hot mess of broad slapstick and heavyhanded morals.
Brett W

#12 on the most re-hashed plots in cinema history list.
Kyle S

Just not that funny.