Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer
Alice Kramden (Gabrielle Union, left) dreams of a house in the suburbs, but her husband, Ralph Kramden (Cedric the Entertainer) has big dreams and get-rich-quick ideas to take them to the next level. - CONTRIBUTED
THE HONEYMOONERS is yet another remake that has filled the 2005 summer roster of movies. So the characters have been allowed to step out of the black-and-white world of CBS where it began as a sitcom and on to the big screen. Of course, in the perpetual world of TV where every popular comedy can almost live forever with the magic of syndication, the re-runs of the original can still be viewed late nights on TV Land.
In this reincarnation The Honeymooners is directed by Mike Shultz and stars Cedric the Entertainer and Mike Epps. While both the Entertainer and Epps are very good comic actors, this flick is a far cry from their best work. The cast is completed by John Leguizamo as Dodge, Gabrielle Union as Alice Kramden and Regina Hall as Trixie Norton.
As with several of his last films, the movie seems to be fulfilling Cedric the Entertainer's wish to be one of the Isley Brothers or some such thing. As with Man of the House, he takes to singing and dancing about, which seems to have been put in because nobody could bother to think of anything more imaginative.
Cedric the Entertainer takes on the role of the story's main character, Ralph Kramden. Kramden is a working-class dreamer who has never met a get-rich-quick scheme that he did not like. Not surprisingly, he's still far from rich as most of those schemes go bust. Epps plays Norton, Ralph's best friend since childhood.
Indeed a large part of the honeymoon that the movie explores takes place between Kramden and Norton as the flick spends more time exploring their relationship than the marriage. Interestingly though, Norton's hat has been updated; the idea of marriage has not been. Ralph continues to address his wife as though she is some lesser being whom he must indulge because he loves her.
ABOUT THE MEN
So, not surprisingly, the show is really about the men, and Alice and Trixie merely tag along for the ride, helping this buddy movie to have something of the appearance of a romantic comedy.
The cast is a decent one and most of the actors play almost stock roles from their repertoire. The exception is Leguizamo, who is a fabulous character actor, and so has never played the same role twice. In The Honeymooners he makes an interesting addition as a not so extraordinary con man, who doubles as a dog trainer.
While Barbershop showed Cedric the Entertainer has range, none of it is explored in this flick and Epps continues to play the inept just as he did in Next Friday and numerous other films. Additionally, even though it is great that Union is getting more adult roles consistently, it is about time she got something more challenging.
The show depends far more heavily on physical comedy than anything else. It has more to offer younger audiences and those more easily amused. While a laugh or two can be found without digging too hard, the flick is certainly no gut-buster. There simply was not enough meat added to the bare bones of the sitcom to make it worthy of being a full-fledged feature. Of course, that has never stopped Hollywood from making a flick. So not surprisingly, in keeping with the other remakes that have raised their mediocre heads this year, The Honeymooners is not much to write home about, not even by email.
