Peeples Is a Fine Meet the Parents
Peeples
Directed by Tina Gordon
Written by Tina Gordon
The review:
Meet-the-parents-style films are not my favorite,* but this entry provides ample opportunity to show off Craig Robinson’s many talents.** It’s fun to watch a film with a Black cast where the big problem has to do with “fit” with family rather than standard topics we usually get. And you get to see some fun stuff from David Alan Grier and S. Epatha Merkerson, not to mention appearances by Melvin Van Peebles and Diahann Carroll.
The verdict: Good
Cost: free from the Multnomah County Library
Where watched: at home
Consider also watching:
- The Wood
- Aaaaannnd, that’s all I’ve got.
- This is an area I need to do some viewing
- According to the previews, every Tyler Perry movie, ever.
Further sentences:
*I always spend the run-time of the movie thinking, “Mr. Rogers thinks you are good enough just the way that you are, so don’t engage.” Or “This person is not worth it. Run away! Run far away!” This film fell into the “run away” category, thus making it hard to root for the ending I knew I was going to get.
**IMDB tells me he gets steady work, for which I’m glad, but I think if we were in an era where the musical theater nature of actors was better able to display, plus if we valued our talented Black performers, he’d have a much bigger career.
Questions:
- Do you think this happens in real life? I feel like 90% of people aren’t that overt in their dislike. And even their passive/aggressive game is weak.
- Were you rooting for the couple, or not?
Favorite IMDB trivia item:
The filmmakers found an existing house in Connecticut that they transformed into the Peeples home complete with details of the family’s ancestry including a painting of Ignatius Toussaint Peeples who lived between 1766 and 1844 that can be seen hanging in the front hall of the home.
Also this:
The cast was constantly singing and dancing on set in between takes, so much so that the producers had to lock the piano during filming.
Other reviews of Peeples:
- Kimberly Jones, Austin Chronicle
- Claudia Puig, USA Today
