Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins is, like Martin Lawrence's career, hit or miss

Roscoe Jenkins (Martin Lawrence) has it all: he's rich; he's the host of a successful Dr. Phil-esque TV show, working under his stage name Dr. RJ Stevens; and he's engaged to the beautiful Bianca Kittles (Joy Bryant), winner of the last season of Survivor.  But Roscoe's in for a rude awakening when his parents' fiftieth anniversary causes him to reunite with his family for the first time in nine years.

Roscoe always felt like a "loser" as a kid, particularly in competitions against cousin Clyde (played as an adult by Cedric the Entertainer); in fact, he still holds a grudge against Clyde for "stealing" prom queen Lucinda Allen, Roscoe's first crush, away from him.  And now that Lucinda's showing up for the anniversary, some of these unresolved issues are about to be brought to the surface.

Martin Lawrence is certainly no stranger to mediocre performances in mediocre films, but he's not bad here.  Of course, he is pretty much relegated to straight man; much of the comedy is derived from Roscoe's wacky family and their interactions both with him and the snooty Bianca.  Mike Epps is Roscoe's hustler cousin Reggie, and his performance is mostly made up of one-liners, some of them iffy but others hilarious.  Mo'Nique is Roscoe's sister Betty, and she's loud and obnoxious as usual, while Michael Clarke Duncan is neither overwhelmingly funny nor overly annoying as Roscoe's brother, the hulking Sheriff Otis.

The adult Roscoe has adopted a new name and a new philosophy he calls "The Team of Me", which basically means winning is everything.  But is he really happy, or has he lost sight of what's important?  Papa Jenkins (the terrific James Earl Jones) thinks the latter and insists on calling him by his assumed name RJ Stevens, the implications being he's distanced himself from the family and he's no longer a "true" Jenkins.  Perhaps the troubled relationship between Roscoe and his son has something to do with the relationship between Roscoe and his own father.  There are some life lessons to be learned here.  The movie was marketed as a "hilarious comedy," but that's not entirely accurate as it takes a turn into serious drama territory near the end.

Of course, there are quite a few laughs to be had as well.  Some of the humor is a bit on the raunchy side though; there's some sex and "bad language" (most courtesy of Mo'Nique, though thankfully she is not in any sex scenes; unfortunately, there is a scene featuring her in the shower).

Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins is a little unsure whether it wants to be a laugh-out-loud comedy or a touching family drama, so it tries to be both.  There are a few stumbles along the way, but the film remains entertaining.  Yes, it's a little silly and predictable, but it's still a decent way to kill some time.