Just Wright

3/4

Starring: Queen Latifah, Common, Paula Patton,

Rated PG for Some Suggestive Material and Brief Language

Queen Latifah is one of the most energetic and likable screen actors out there these days.  She's a big girl, but she's got loads of confidence and personality.  Unfortunately, she's typically stuck in bit parts and lame comedies (the two not always being mutually exclusive).  What a shame.  The Queen is a gifted actress, and she can command the screen in ways few other people can.  She was the best thing about the very good action-thriller "Set it Off," and here she's given another chance to be the center of a movie.

Leslie Wright (Latifah) is a physical therapist and a die-hard New York Nets fan.  She knows all about their star player, Scott McKnight (Common), so when she runs into him at a gas station and gets invited to a party, she is beyond excited.  Leslie takes along her superficial, gold digging half-sister Morgan (Paula Patton).  But unfortunately it's Morgan who steals the basketball star...that is until she dumps him when he gets a devastating injury.  Now Leslie is tasked with healing Scott's knee in record time, but something strange happens: they fall in love.

Romances are so hard to get right because they rely almost exclusively on character development.  Most romances are so bogged down by plot and talentless-yet-photogenic stars that they leave out the reason why we go to these movies in the first place.  That's what makes "Just Wright" so special.  It allows us to fall in love with the characters by themselves and as they fall in love with each other.

Much of the reason why this film works is because the two leads are so likable.  Queen Latifah gives her best performance in years.  On paper, Leslie is a candidate for sainthood; as played by The Queen, she's impossible not to like.  For example, when Morgan and Scott hit it off, she's thrilled, not jealous.  And it's not hard to root for her to get with Scott, who is anything but the stereotypical celebrity jerk.  He's a warm-hearted gentleman who wants the same thing that everyone else wants: true love.  For the most part, rapper-turned-actor Common sells the role, although there are moments when he is a little stiff.  As Morgan, the talented Paula Patton is entirely convincing as the gold digger.  She makes no secret of why she wants to marry a sports star, and yet she's allowed to escape from the stereotype.

Director Sanaa Hamri made the critically acclaimed romantic-comedy "Something New" that was unseen by me, but if this is anything to go by, should be incredible.  She has a firm grasp of what a romance should be, and allows the characters to take the center stage over the plot.  She also avoids outright manipulation if at all possible (by their nature, romances rely on audience manipulation.  The fact is that Hamri is especially skilled at it).

Although this is not a perfect motion picture, this is one of the few romances that actually works.