Queen Latifah stars as Leslie Wright, a physical therapist for NBA All Star Scott McKnight played by the rapper Common. He’s had a career-threatening injury and needs full time attention to bring his injury back to playing condition. Wright’s friend Morgan Alexander (played by the gorgeous Paula Patton) is trying to get dibs on McKnight and become a rich NBA wife without a care in the world. Let the romantic rehab begin in Fox Searchlight’s Just Wright.
Premise
The premise of this movie is nothing new. A strange situation in someone’s life brings two people together who otherwise wouldn’t know each other and they fall in love after many setbacks. We’ve seen it all before just in different settings.
Just Wright tries to be a more contemporary Bull Durham with the focus on the female side of things instead of the male bravado of the sports world but it still doesn’t quite work. It’s like You’ve Got Mail trying to re-do Sleepless in Seattle and the writers just couldn’t make it work. Overall, my wife and I thought this movie was flat.
On top of that this movie would appeal to only a certain sector of fans which is fine since it’s not a blockbuster. If you’re a woman who finds NBA players to be eye candy then this is the perfect movie to go to.
Review
Two words describe this movie to perfection: eye candy. Muscular basketball players getting close to women who ogle them is what this movie seems to be about. When McKnight suffers an injury and Leslie Wright gets to be closer to him instead of Alexander who hit it off with him right away then the hijinks ensue. Not quite as funny as My Best Friend’s Wedding but as far as love triangles go it’s pretty standard fare.
If anyone makes this movie it’s Phylicia Rashad as McKnight’s mother. Don’t get me wrong there are a lot of great actors and actresses in this movie it’s just they are all overly dramatized when instead there should be focus on each individual’s talents. Latifah, Patton, and Common are all fantastic actors caught in a badly scripted movie. When these three pull off great performances you have the potential to have a great movie.
Potential is the best part of this movie in addition to seeing great actors get some screen time. Unfortunately the script needed much more zing to it and less over dramatic lines and plots. For a rated PG romance, Just Wright is just fine but it won’t show up on classic romances or love stories anytime soon.
