30 Years to Life

Color, R (language, sexual situations), 110 min., DVD $26.98, VHS rental

DVD: no extras

Street: April 4, Prebook: DVD March 2, VHS March 16

First Run: L, June 2002, NA

Cast: Erika Alexander (Full Frontal), Melissa De Sousa (Laurel Canyon), Tracy Morgan (Head of State), Kadeem Hardison (Showtime)

SCREEN MEDIA

Story Line: Wall Street job notwithstanding, Natalie (De Sousa) feels like a failure on her 30th birthday because she doesn't have a man. Her friend Joy (Alexander) has one, but he's unwilling to commit. And Natalie's other thirtyish friends are having problems too.

Bottom Line: This upscale urban comedy has strong crossover potential because the members of its ensemble cast are all familiar from mainstream movies and sitcoms. In fact, filmmaker Middleton is a sitcom writer by trade, which one might guess from the facile way in which she interweaves multiple plot threads. Her characters aren't deep, but they all have distinguishing traits. The situations too are very sitcomish. For example, Alexander's commitment-phobic boyfriend, played by T. E. Russell, is more or less shamed into proposing when a jewelry-store error results in the substitution of an engagement ring for the bracelet he bought as a birthday gift. And career woman De Sousa poses as a doting homebody to attract handsome but conservative doctor Hardison. The currently hot Morgan is excellent as a standup comic disappointed with his career's progression. Middleton deserves credit for a smooth writing job, although her direction could have been a little more punchy. --Ed Hulse

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