Laz Alonso and Paula Patton fall in love in New York. Their parents have not been introduced at the time they meet for their kids' wedding. Loretta Devine takes public transportation to a modest job in New York from a modest apartment. She is a widow now relying on her friends once a man who could be her brother or brother in law and her son seem to prefer to remain distant.Angela Bassett uses inherited family money to own a manor estate on Martha's Vinyard jointly with her husband and to formally sequester the remainder of her private, personal wealth from her husband. She tries to keep her distance from her husband, a female member of the family who could be her sister or sister in law and her stepdaughter. Their personal issues will play out on the wedding weekend as well as whatever personal issues the kids have accepting their most human in laws. A brilliantly cast, written and executed film the stories play out in a way which makes the audience recall times in their lives they went through one of the issues of the fictitious storyboard.

Two worlds collide when compulsive, suave and resigned to solitude uptown girl Sabrina Watson (Paula Patton) runs over an up-and-coming businessman deriving from Bronx Jason Taylor (Laz Alonso). The chance connection redefines them both and within a blink of an eye they have set a wedding date aiming to finalise their marriage. The biggest obstacle being the conflicting family backgrounds, which seem set to topple the marriage. Mr Watson (Brian Stokes Mitchell) and Mrs Watson (Angela Bassett) were born into riches and high class lifestyle, to the extent that despite her skin colour Mrs Watson stems from a family of former slave owners. Meanwhile the widow Mrs Taylor (Loretta Devine), a police clerk, is a possessive mother with very traditional standpoints and a dismissive attitude towards any foreign elements to her family. When family secrets are revealed and incompatible world views interact one weekend on Martha's Vineyard the wedding seems set to burn...It comes somewhat of a surprise that a romantic comedy with subtexts set in African-American culture seems to be such a novelty, exposing how limited the access of this key demographic has to cinema. Coming off as a black "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", it features rich cultural connotations, centred around the key plot of 'jumping the broom', a traditional form of entering into marriage, derived from the slavery period, when blacks were forbidden to formally marry, hence resorting to African customs. This beautiful and meaningful tradition has seemingly been ridiculed as backward by upper class African Americans (which I must say is a somewhat gut-wrenching self-degrading of their rich culture). And as such this conflict should and could have been the centre of focus for the plot, which unfortunately derails from the substantial comedy into more melodramatic subplots. With only a mildly funny comedic backdrop and the social issues mostly on a back-burner, hinted and then disregarded, the main causes for watching "Jumping the Broom" is the somewhat novel context and the absolutely wicked performances by both matrons: Devine and Bassett. Most other actors deal with the story with typical African-American over-exuberance, but the two queens are dastardly perfection as they summarily head towards total conflict.

If you truly love someone,AND YOUR HEART ACHES, then this is IT. Also,you'll love everything else: the actors (every single one of them performs so truly that you will either laugh your heart out or shed ... all your tears), the fabulous setting (Martha's Vineyards, and the gorgeous houses...), the pictures are amazing too( Sony HD pictures, mentioned in the credits!!), the beaches, and oh.. the music, god so many beautiful soul songs (and not only), no wonder black music is the best !I have downloaded all of them! I loved it, I was touched by several scenes, and of course the beautiful Angela Basset is the reason I watched the movie , always exceptional in her acting. Paula Patton is a natural too , she is so charming and pretty.Watching her made me realize she could easily portray late Whitney Houston in an upcoming BIO ( her smile reminds me of her ). Congrats to the film makers , nice plot, wonderful cast,and sensational music. A kind of Pretty woman style movie, catchy and touching.

"Jumping The Broom" is one of this year's latest romantic comedies. The movie revolves around a gorgeous, young couple played by Laz Alonso ("Stomp The Yard") and Paula Patton ( "Idlewild") who are planning on getting married. The couple remain in pre marital bliss until they bring their respective families together. Both families, one wealthy, the other working class meet for the first time at Martha's Vineyard which is where most of the drama and romantic interludes unfold. The movie consist of an all star cast which includes Loretta Devine as the meddlesome, overbearing, protective mother, Mike Epps as the funny uncle, Angela Bassett, as the beougie, materialistic mother of the bride, along with Tasha Smith (" Why Did I Get Married"?)and Valerie Pettiford (" Half &Half"). Overall, the film does have its entertaining moments. However, like most family/ romantic dramas, the plot is somewhat trite, i.e, hidden family secrets revealed, meddling soon-to be in laws, following family traditions and customs as well as deep rooted issues that test the strength and bond between the two main characters. Its great to see a movie that focuses on family unity and true love along with unfortunate circumstances that can tear a family apart, but still manage to bring them closer together. While there are some nice touches to the film, the ending is rather predictable and could've had a little more surprise to it. I give this movie a 7 out of 10.