Wade Walker (Craig Robinson) lives with Grace Peeples (Kerry Washington). He relates to children through music and wants to be a counselor. She is a lawyer at the UN and her family is referred to as the "chocolate Kennedys." Wade's plans to propose to Grace are interrupted by her desire to spend the weekend with her family, who he has never met. Urged by a friend (Malcolm Barrett),Wade crashes the family get together with formulaic results.

As it turns out the family has all sorts of issues and secrets which they hide from their father, Judge Virgil Peeples (David Alan Grier). Wade spends his time having an uncomfortable weekend filled with faux paus as he tries to help. The film includes Peeple/people and cheap Moby Dick humor.

For those who like Tyler Perry type comedies, this one fits the bill, but comes off a little stale. It does have some good scenes which made me smile. The film needed to have one more episode to develop Wade's character before he meets the family, then have him either draw from his talents, or better yet, have to do just the opposite to resolve issues with her family. It attempts, but fails to do that effectively, missing the key ingredient of the formula success.

Parental Guide: No f-bombs, sex, or nudity. Sexual talk, spanking, role play, implied sex.

"Peeples" is an awkward meet-the-parents-type of comedy, that unfortunately doesn't really stand out in any particular way compared to the many other movies in the same genre that has come and gone over the years.

The story is about Wade (played by Craig Robinson) who travel to pay a surprise visit to his girlfriend Grace Peeples (played by Kerry Washington) while she is visiting her family in the Hamptons. The Peeples seem to have it all, but things are not entirely picture-perfect underneath the surface, and situations boil over as Wade enters the picture.

The situations in the movie are good enough and there is an occasional laugh to be found here and there, but be warned that the movie will not have you laughing constantly throughout the entire length.

As for the people on the cast list, then they had put together a good ensemble of people for the various roles, and each did bring something unique to the movie. And the chemistry between the various characters (and actors) be it for a good or bad situation was working quite well. It was David Alan Grier, who played the father in the movie, who was doing the best performance here and carried most of the movie.

However, I am rating "Peeples" a mere 5 out of 10 stars, because it never stepped out of mediocrity, and truth be told, then there are far better comedies in this particular genre. But still, it is good for a laugh or two if you have nothing better to do.

What kind of judge has a huge estate that rivals anything available in Beverly Hills, CA? Has he got something going on the side? We never know. The premise of the film is thin and moves at break-neck speed, perhaps so viewers won't recognize the story-line is bereft of focus. There's little for the viewer to connect with.

The rookie director just didn't bring out actor-ability or premise texture. You just wanted to grind ahead, hoping something up front would be better than the humorless scenes that passed. Even Tyler Williams (from TV's "Everybody Hates Chris") seemed out of place and overdone. The film really needed the likes of ice Cube to loosen it up and send it on a much more plausible and amusing entertainment trip.

A funny film?? Who says? ~mm