Movie Review: "Just Wright"

Seen on: May 11, 2010

The players: Director: Sanaa Hamri, Writer: Michael Elliot, Cast: Queen Latifah, Common, Paula Patton, Pam Grier

Facts of interest: Hamri also directed "Something New."

The plot: A physical therapist fancies an NBA star player, but unfortunately for her, he seems to be interested in another girl.

Our thoughts: Sanaa Hamri’s “Just Wright” is just so-so. It’s a standard romantic comedy that boasts decent production values and a promising cast, but in terms of story, it really falls flat. True love is really not that hard to find, the movie tells us, and while that may be a truthful statement, I only wish the filmmakers would’ve found a more intriguing way to convey it via the big screen.

Queen Latifah plays Leslie Wright, a physical therapist who just doesn’t seem to have any luck when it comes to finding the right man. Guys she goes on dates with generally consider her more of a great friend rather than a lover, and frankly, Leslie’s gotten used to it. But when she randomly meets NBA star Scott McKnight, things slowly start to change.

Even though Leslie and Scott seem to hit it off pretty well, any hope for a potential romantic relationship between the two is crushed when Leslie’s best friend Morgan (Paula Patton) enters the game and successfully seduces Scott in the hope of becoming his trophy wife. Shortly after, Scott suffers a serious knee injury that may threaten his career, and before he knows it, Morgan leaves him and his leg behind.

But wait! Before Morgan packs her bags and disappears, she hires Leslie as Scott’s physical therapist, and as you may already guess, sparks soon start to fly between the hurt NBA player and his new personal trainer. It’s pretty easy to guess where “Just Wright” is heading from here, and if you think I already revealed too much, just watch the trailer; it basically shows you how this thing ends.

Sadly, I saw no real ambition anywhere in this movie, which clearly suffers from the usual Hollywood predictability and doesn’t have anything to offer except decent acting performances and some flashy moments of basketball action. The rest is a pile of cheesy wanna-be romance that screams for innovation, and unfortunately, it doesn’t head anywhere remotely surprising or engaging.

There’s the obvious twist towards the end of the movie as well, and in my book, it totally fails. In fact, it makes some of the characters look very dumb, and that certainly doesn’t help anybody. Dialogue is overall pretty superficial, but luckily enough, Latifah and Common share a few romantic moments. Nothing to get excited over, but the two bring along just the kind of energy “Just Wright” needs to survive.

Freaky quote: "I'm not one of those salad-eating chicks." - Queen Latifah

The final word: I’m already running out of things to say about “Just Wright,” and frankly, the main reason is the film’s lack of anything we have not seen yet. Hamri’s edgy direction and the solid editing keep the pace of the plot running smoothly, and while “Just Wright” is not necessarily a boring experience, it’s just a very empty one. I don’t like empty films, so I can’t really recommend this one.

Article by Franck Tabouring