Search - Flip the Script on DVD

Robin Givens and Miguel a Nunez Jr. try to make love work th

Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 08/26/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The tagline for "Flip the Script" is that "A second time around is better than the first," and there might be a temptation to think that what they are referring to is that the situation here is a lot like it was in "The Big Chill." Following somebody's sudden death, six old friends come together to plan his funeral, to reconnect, and to deal with old feelings. But first time screenwriter Tiayoka McMillan needs some reason to bring six thirty-something college friends, and a memorial-slash-party for their dead friend Lucky (Teck Holmes) is an obvious way of doing it. To tell the truth, once the six get together again you tend to forget the reason that they are there because this romantic comedy has a specific agenda, and being the African American version of "The Big Chill" is not it. Besides, there is a nice payoff for everybody who makes that assumption.

Preston Scott (Miguel A. Nunez, Jr.) is a gynecologist who has yet to settle down, and is reunited with his college flame, Rain Jones (Robin Givens), a masseuse. That is where the tagline comes into play. Face-to-face for the first time since college, when he broke her heart and other crimes, they both tell the exact same lie: they are engaged to be married. This bit of face saving is complicated by the obvious fact that they still have feelings for each other, and some of those feelings are hurt feelings. Preston and Rain are supported in their big lies by their old friends, which are Bruce (Mel Jackson) and Jamal (Randy J. Goodwin) on his side, and Angel (Bianca Lawson) and Nikki (Jazsmin Lewis) on her side. If the principles are not willing to extol the virtues of their faux-fiances, the same cannot be said for their friends.

Once Preston and Rain get on the same page there are still obstacles, namely her father (Obba Babatunde), who has not forgiven Preston for his college escapades, and Tiffany (Victoria Gabrielle Platt), who was escapade in question and who is still around trolling for Preston. I was leaning towards rounding up on this one until we got to the resolution part of the proceedings, which would also include the final joke regarding Preston and Rain during the bit at the end of the film where we find out what happens to everybody in the near future. I know these two are going to end up together and while it looked for a while that their friends were going to help them avoid the obvious pitfalls, the script simply fails to come up with the requisite grand gesture. I liked the characters and the performances, and Givens and Nunez have the necessary chemistry on screen, but the end game is nothing special and that is where the payoff for a film like this has to come.

"Flip the Script" is a low budget, independent film that was shot on location in Los Angeles in only 11 days by first time film director Terrah Bennett Smith. That would explain why the sound goes soft on the dialogue in a couple of places. It also would explain why there are no DVD extras. You have to go to the official site for the film just to check out the trailer. I decided to see this film when I checked out the new DVD releases this month because it had Bianca Lawson and not just because she was Kendra on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," but also because she is in my current favorite midnight movie, "Dead and Breakfast"). This 2005 comedy is enjoyable enough, but loses any chance to be more than that in the final act (and, no, dropping the towel would not have helped)."

Not so good.

K. Reddick | Phoenix, Arizona | 02/07/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I have watched this movie a few times and really did not find it very entertaining. I'm actually going to give it away. The plot about ebony love is definitely not true and the acting skills are under the bus. No reality to it at all."