The Cookout
Lions Gate Films | Release Date: September 3, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
15
METASCORE
Overwhelming dislike based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
0
Mixed:
1
Negative:
13
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
40
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Wants to be an outdoor, barbecue-grilled "Barbershop" but lacks the pungency and honesty of its prototype. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Good-natured but it's a dud. Read full review
30
Village VoiceAkiva Gottlieb
Eventually, 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." Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
This is one dull party. Read full review
25
New York Daily NewsRobert Dominguez
There isn't a genuine laugh or a character who isn't a stereotype in The Cookout, a lifeless comedy featuring a cast of familiar faces who must have needed the paycheck. Read full review
25
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Sends comedy backward in time, and we're in the 1970s, ethno-sitcom style: These Andersons in their out-of-date white, snooty gated community apparently confuse themselves with their forebears on The Jeffersons. Read full review
20
TV Guide MagazineAngel Cohn
It took a village of screenwriters and story creators - including costar Queen Latifah and first-time director Lance Rivera - to cram just about every imaginable stereotype about African-Americans and white people ever conceived into this short, unappetizing comedy. Read full review
20
VarietyJoe Leydon
Loosely plotted and wildly uneven farce. Read full review
20
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Gives virtually every cast member a shot at humiliation. Read full review
20
L.A. WeeklyChuck Wilson
Queen Latifah gets co-producer and scenarist credits for this anemic comedy, and also a supporting role that amounts to the worst performance of her career. Read full review
20
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
There might have been a decent comedy here if someone had remembered to insert some actual humor. Read full review
11
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
Everything else here – from the gross caricatures to the so-called comic mayhem – is sour to taste. Read full review
10
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
A painfully unfunny, would-be comedy. Read full review
0
New York PostMegan Lehmann
Nasty, borderline bigoted, stunningly amateurish film. Read full review
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