Film: Just Wright
Film Review by Erica Taylor

Would you date a professional athlete? Could you make it your full-time job to learn the ins and outs of one man’s statistics on the court or the field in order to get that dream ring, the dream wedding and the life you always dreamed? Well, believe it or not, there are women who make it their business to find a star athlete, putting in overtime on the scoreboard to keep him. With the injection of reailty shows like “Basketball Wives” by the former Mrs. O’Neal and the gang, the groupie’s search for the Holy Grail of three-pointers is finally exposed to the general public.
In Sanaa Hamri’s “Just Wright,” starring rap pioneer Queen Latifah, the ever-conscious rapper-gone-actor, Common, and the pre-baby beauty Paula Patton, women who do their homework to catch the baller are given the strategy for the lay-up of a lifetime in this unlikely Cinderella-of-sports love story.
Queen Latifah stars as Leslie Wright, a physical therapist who's all about her craft and hell bent on saving herself for the perfect one. Unfortunately, her character runs into the same problem many single sisters encounter today – the “I’m not ready” or “you’re the best homegirl a guy could have” situation in the dating arena. The hooptie-driving honey is smart, hard working, virtuous and attractive inside and out, and most of the guys that see her see that too - that is, until they catch a glimpse of her cousin, Morgan, (Paula Patton) the honey with hoop dreams of landing an NBA player, who outshines her cousin as visions of Gucci and Prada dance in her head.  But when Scott McKnight gets injured, there’s only Leslie Wright to pick up the pieces as his “ride or die chick,” only to be left holding the veil for her younger and superficially attractive cousin.
All Hail the Queen
I recently went to New York to talk to the cast of “Just Wright.” After viewing the movie, I couldn’t help but wonder about the on-set and behind-the-scenes energy between two rap icons who signed on the dotted line for a steamy bed scene, complete with the afterglow and puppy-love trimmings. Queen Latifah’s larger-than-life energy filled the room as she addressed the digging press, half of whom had hoped to hear that her kisses with Common (Scott McKnight) were like cotton candy and sunshine in Paris. The "Ladies First" diva busted into her interview early to administer her newest co-star a friendly hug and kiss before her roundtables began (There’s no doubt she’s obtained a smaller and healthier status as a Jenny Craig spokesperson). Consistent with the reports, Queen Latifah is definitely a sister from Jersey who’s fine with who she is on screen and off, which, is one in the same in her latest film.
Common Interest
“The kiss was right ... it was just right,” Latifah jokingly said about the smooching between she and co-star love interest Common. Not interested in dwelling on .....

AAFCA member Erica Taylor is a producer with the Tom Joyner Radio Show.