Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins

New York Post Kyle Smith

Turns out to be formulaic and broad but also skillfully paced and big-hearted, with a sharp cast of comics that makes the most of a sunny script.

Village Voice Chuck Wilson

Although the big comic setups in Lee's script feel a bit forced--the director continually sets up moments of rapid-fire, barb-filled interplay among his accomplished cast.

Entertainment Weekly Clark Collis

Mo'Nique is similarly given little opportunity to show off her indisputable comedic chops, though her freewheeling monologue during the closing credits hints at what might have been.

Chicago Tribune Kelley L. Carter

Under normal circumstances, too many comics spoil the show.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jason Anderson

More than sufficiently funny.

The New York Times Matt Zoller Seitz

It’s a cut above other films of its type because every scene is packed with details like those pliers -- touches that suggest that the film’s writer and director, Malcolm D. Lee (“The Best Man”), is working overtime to smuggle life into formula.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

The film has a warmth and raucousness that's surprisingly disarming.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Be warned that what looks to be a family comedy pushes its PG-13 rating to the edge with blatant sexual references and creatively crude sexual metaphors.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

It's not the unevenness of the comedy that kills Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins but the illegitimacy of the drama.

Variety Justin Chang

An in-your-face double helping of fat jokes, crude slapstick, wacky Southern-black stereotypes and occasionally inspired improv.

Austin Chronicle Josh Rosenblatt

At its best, Roscoe Jenkins is about the crushing influence of the past and one man’s attempts to free himself – by hook, crook, or Hollywood – from underneath it. At its worst, however, the movie is content to just explore the apparently infinite comic potential of dogs having sex, people getting sprayed by skunks, and men getting beaten up by overweight women.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

A talented comedian, Lawrence has leaned all too easily on formula for his successful films. Imagine if he would test his flair against original and fresh premises, instead of the tried and trite. Why, he'd discover what it's like to take pride, not just profit.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

A few laughs and a lot of hyperbolic shtick make this a little better than formulaic before the standard-issue resolution.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

As Roscoe's parents, Margaret Avery and James Earl Jones emerge with drawers undropped and dignity intact.

The Hollywood Reporter Sheri Linden

The cast's evident delight might be enough for some moviegoers, but with so much talent and so little modulation on offer, audiences subjected to the onslaught could reasonably expect a higher laughs-to-torture ratio.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Lawrence's co-stars are more than ready to provide salty humor while creating a loose, almost improvised feel.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Imagine a Three Stooges short with a feel-good ending, and you get the idea.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust

A near continuous assault of clichés, Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins doesn't become truly bothersome until its denouement, when it attempts to wring unearned sentiment from the inevitable, awkwardly staged family rapprochement.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

This is one of those your-roots-are-showing family circuses where just about everybody seems like a clown.

USA Today Scott Bowles

Give this to Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins: The dogs can act.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Nothing the skunk does can begin to match the stench of this movie.

San Francisco Chronicle Walter Addiego

The effort is undermined with crass humor, mugging and slapstick.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

It's not that you can't go home again. It's that you SHOULDN'T, at least not in a lowbrow Hollywood comedy, because your family will inevitably be lewd, crude, loud and obnoxious.