Leslie Wright (Queen Latifah) is happy. She is a successful physical therapist, and she is fixing up the old house she just bought. So why doesn't she have a man? That's simple. Leslie has always been seen "one of the guys." She loves Nets' basketball and just hanging out, and unfortunately for her, her childhood friend Morgan (Paula Patton) is gorgeous. As Morgan goes gold-diggin,' Leslie lands the chance of a lifetime to be a physical therapist for the handsome and talented NBA All-star Scott McKnight. But with this amazing opportunity comes some unforeseen (well, let's face it, totally predictable) emotional complications and tough choices for everyone.
To call this movie predictable is like saying ice is cold. I knew going into it that it was a chick flick, but I like Queen Latifah, so I gave it a shot. Sadly, I just could not identify with her as Leslie. Every time she got all girly and sweet, I felt awkward, like I was waiting for some stand-up line to come out of her mouth to make me laugh. She plays her character as well as can be expected, but there is some seriously cheesy writing that made certain scenes hard to take seriously.
Common was good as NBA player Scott McKnight, but mostly because he is good looking and smooth. Paula Patton is the real stand out in this cast, and not because she's lovely. She was truly great as the girl you love to hate. She was as shallow and fake as they come, but still getting the guy (and that is reality). Perhaps the best surprise of the cast for me was Phylicia Rashad (Clair Huxtable from the Cosby Show), who plays Scott's mother. Her small character brought the attitude we are used to seeing from her, giving the film a tad more realistic feel.
The basketball scenes are just bad quality. I realize that Common would look like a dwarf if you put him right next to actual NBA players, but the way the game clips were filmed and cut made me sick just looking at all the poor quality effects and movement. It just looked terribly fake. On top of that, the romantic chemistry between our leads never developed, leaving it even clearer that this fairytale really doesn't ever come true. I support the idea that a beautiful and talented man might discover that he wants more than a superficial beauty, but I just was not sold here. The movie is what it is, and if you're going to see it, I'm sure it will mildly entertain you. The movie was not terrible, but I have no need to sit through it again.
