Director Lance Rivera has never directed a movie before, and he doesn’t start here.
Comment
08/07/08
The Cookout (2004)
5
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:39
Fresh:2
Rotten:37
Average Rating:2.8/10
Consensus: Good-natured but prepared with an absence of craft, The Cookout is an unappetizing collection of warmed-over jokes.
Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins
Genre: Comedies
US Box Office: $11,540,112
Synopsis: TODD ANDERSON is chosen as the #1 NBA draft pick by the New Jersey Nets and signs a contract for thirty million dollars that instantly changes his life. Whether he likes it or not his mom, LADY EM... [More]
Reviews for The Cookout
Seemingly assembled from ideas on the cutting-room floor of a cancelled sitcom.
01/05/07
This is one dull party.
01/05/07
Uma “comédia” sem a menor graça que, com seus estereótipos ofensivos a brancos, negros e homossexuais, falha não só do ponto de vista cinematográfico, mas também humano.
02/09/05
...a taxing and intolerable vehicle that has all the charm of a gold-toothed rapper’s root canal. The Cookout is certainly not any food for thought.
01/19/05
It's low comedy and it's crudely made. But that's no excuse for it being dull.
10/31/04
Everything else here -- from the gross caricatures to the so-called comic mayhem -- is sour to taste.
09/19/04
Plenty of action and confusion in this wild story that culminates in a cookout.
09/14/04
Director Lance Rivera raises some legitimate questions about moving up versus selling out and the commodification of professional athletes, but he couldn’t care less about answering them.
09/11/04
It does provide some true laughs and, incredibly, some real humanity.
09/11/04
The movie unfolds in the most perfunctory fashion. At least the food looks good.
09/11/04
Rippin' and Dippin'
09/10/04
This is one more entry in the long list of 'urban comedies' that dish out the kind of humor that would probably spark protests if the filmmakers weren't African-American.
09/09/04
Rivera and a host of screenwriters were apparently as cowed by Lady Em as Todd; she sucks up much of the screen time, and admirable though her family values may be, they're not exactly rip-roaring funny.
09/09/04
Todd's payday apparently sends comedy backward in time, and we're in the 1970s, ethno-sitcom style.
09/09/04
There might have been a decent comedy here if someone had remembered to insert some actual humor.
09/09/04
A painfully unfunny, would-be comedy.
09/08/04
The few high points hardly add up to enough to keep this barbecue grill from just fizzling out.
09/08/04
The pointlessness of The Cookout exudes a modicum of charm, but the simple-minded mess still lacks the wit and moral weight of an episode of Family Matters.
09/07/04
Proceeds at a rambling pace without developing much in the way of comic momentum or scoring many laugh-out-loud high points.
09/07/04
Top CriticLatest News for The Cookout
January 12, 2006:
Critical Consensus: A Regal "Holiday," A Well-Trodden "Road," A Tepid "Tristan"
This week at the movies brings us films about a risk-averse woman cutting loose ("Last Holiday"), a groundbreaking underdog basketball team ("Glory Road"),... More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Fresh Links
Featured
Why Don't Australians Make Sci-fi? 
The New Matilda's Lynden Barber looks at the recent success of low-budget sci-fi -- and asks the question.
New Moon Portraits
TIME offers us a closer look at the characters from the latest Twilight film.
Follow Rotten Tomatoes on Twitter
Get all the latest movie updates, reviews, interviews and features here.
Competitions
Win Star Wars prizes
Enough Prequel, Original Trilogy and Family Guy DVDs to fill a space cruiser
Win the entire 007 collection
Everything from Dr. No to Quantum of Solace could be yours.
Win Fight Club Special Editions and more
We're giving away the 10th Anniversary Blu-ray, plus Braveheart and the Rocky collection
IGN RSS Feeds