The Honeymooners

The Honeymooners | |
| Rated: | None |
| Director: | John Schultz |
| Cast: | Cedric the Entertainer, Mike Epps, Gabrielle Union, Regina Hall, Eric Stoltz, John Leguizamo |
| Release Date: | 2005 |
| Genre: | Comedy |
Despite a chronological fast-forward and melanin shift, Ralph Kramden (Cedric the Entertainer) is still a bus driver and his upstairs neighbor Ed Norton (Mike Epps) is still king of the NYC sewers. Kramden still aspires to fame and fortune while losing money in one get-rich-quick scheme after another, much to the chagrin of his sensible wife, Alice (Gabrielle Union), who has her eyes set on homeownership. But after finding a speedy stray dog, Kramden and Norton decide the quickest way to earn that down payment is to groom their find for the greyhound track. The cross-cultural revisitation of two iconic comic characters sounds like an interesting experiment, but the movie can’t decide whether it’s set in a benevolent and color-blind ’50s or a raunchier present day. (Would Kramden and Norton ever have discussed women’s butts, the existence of Beyoncé notwithstanding?) Cedric the Entertainer exhibits hearty charm and Epps ably recycles Carney’s physical bits of character, but both only succeed in hitting all the notes without playing the music. When Kramden blows his top and scuffles with Norton, it’s less reminiscent of the irreplaceable Gleason and Carney and more like watching two retarded adults squabble over nothing. The end result is mediocre and forgettable, words that should never be used in the same sentence as The Honeymooners.