Uptight lawyer Peter Sanderson wants to dive back into dating after his divorce and has a hard time meeting the right women. He tries online dating and lucks out when he starts chatting with a fellow lawyer. The two agree to meet in the flesh, but the woman he meets — an escaped African-American convict named Charlene — is not what he expected. Peter is freaked out, but Charlene tries to convince him to take her case and prove her innocence. Along the way, she wreaks havoc on his middle-class life as he gets a lesson in learning to lighten up.
A comedy that successfully plays with stereotypes, both racial and personal.
– Jami Bernard,
New York Daily News,
22 Apr 2003
rotten:
You have somebody as smart as Steve Martin, and as smart and appealing as Queen Latifah in a movie like this. To have such an awful, offensive story is a real disappointment.
– Richard Roeper,
Ebert & Roeper,
18 Mar 2003
rotten:
A comedy constructed from tapped-out ideas.
– Robert Denerstein,
Denver Rocky Mountain News,
14 Mar 2003
rotten:
A Film in Which Steve Martin Will Appear in Full Hip-Hop Drag With Appropriate Slang for Not Less Than Six Minutes.
– Jane Dark,
Village Voice,
11 Mar 2003
rotten:
The material is thin and pandering and almost criminally negligent in bypassing opportunities for humor.