91Èȱ¬

Already going against this so-called comedy is the fact that it's based on a 50s sitcom that didn't make the grade outside the US. Basically Cedric The Entertainer and Gabrielle Union are blue-collar newlyweds in pursuit of happiness but repeatedly tripped by hubbie's harebrained get-rich-quick schemes. It could be part-autobiographical for director John Schultz who blunders through a tediously half-baked plot and fails to make it pay off.

He believes in the American dream and that's supposed to make Ralph Kramden (Cedric The Entertainer) a hero to root for. Unfortunately, his inability to stick to one plan and see it through not only makes him a loser but serves as a poor excuse for a haphazard script. Kramden begins with a notion of ferrying tourists around New York in an antique tram but the next thing we know he's in a cut-price version of Seabiscuit - investing the family savings in a broken-down greyhound. Much like the dog, the story moves fast but goes around in circles.

"LOUDMOUTH SHTICK BECOMES MONOTONOUS NOISE"

Meanwhile Mrs Kramden is scrimping and saving for a deposit on a house, but looks set to be gazumped by a rich property developer. It's a pity that Eric Stoltz should see fit to squander his talent playing this white-bred pantomime villain in a subplot that feels like a lazy afterthought. Likewise, Cedric The Entertainer's loudmouth shtick becomes monotonous noise, and, as his dim-witted sidekick, Mike Epps wears an unchanging "duh, me?" expression. If only Kramden could bottle the sweat of all this desperation, he'd make a killing in laughter repellent.