The Cookout Basketball Movie

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Little boys in Canada, United States and the whole world in fact, still want to be basketball stars, even during this lean COVID-19 time.

The pandemic paralyzed everything in March 2020, including basketball. The NBA and the NBA Players’ Association agreed in May, to reduce paychecks by 25%, but that doesn’t stop little boys from wanting to grow up and be drafted, the first NBA hand shake.

Lance Rivera’s movie The Cookout, is about the dollar sign, the millions NBA players make after being drafted. Queen Latifah and two other writers came up with the character Todd Anderson, played by (Quran Pender).

Somehow, he looks like Kawhi Leonard, the LA Clippers’ star. He also plaited his hair like Kawhi. The Cookout was released in 2004, so there’s definitely no connection between the two men.

Todd Anderson’s parents are proud of him but, are not too thrilled when he leaves the ‘hood’ and buys a mansion in a gated community. His mother helps him move with his old things, something that infuriates his girlfriend Brittany (Meagan Good), who wants to cut all ties with Todd’s former life.

There is very little basketball in the movie, which was a let down. It would have been nice to see Todd Anderson shooting hoops on an NBA  designated court.

There’s a lot of food and family at the cookout, but what holds the movie together is the mental wrestling between Todd’s mother, played brilliantly by Jennifer Lewis, and Brittany.

The security officer (Queen Latifah) tries to be the glue that holds everything together and fails miserably. Big question is: did the draft change Todd Anderson?

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.

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