Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom: Critic Reviews

Despite some drinking (with nary a hangover afterward) and a fling or two, the prevailing mood isna(TM)t campy or disco-decadent. Rather the emphasis is squarely on heartfelt communication, monogamy and child rearing.

It might be helpful to think of the series and its spinoff as a male version of The Golden Girls. A young, gay, African American male version of The Golden Girls.

The lively, timely film plays like a soap opera on a big screen, has its awkward and uneven moments but delivers the goods.

It's tempting to slight the effort as My Big Fat Gay Wedding, since the screenwriters follow a familiar template.

While there are some solid chuckles scattered throughout the film, Polk's heavy-handed political sloganeering is lifted straight from pamphlets, while his character development and plotting are clumsy and filled with holes.

Jumping the Broom exalts an underserved audience yet Polk's discussion of the socio-economic connection of slavery and contemporary gay politics doesn't patronize them.

The film version might be more adequately subtitled Jumping the Shark.