Juwanna Mann (2002)

User Rating:

4.1/10   

Director:

Jesse Vaughan

Writer (WGA):

Bradley Allenstein (written by)

Release Date:

21 June 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sport

Tagline:

The only way he can stay pro, is to play (like) a girl.

Plot:

A basketball star is booted out of the NBA when his on-court antics go too far, so he poses as a woman and joins the WUBA.

Plot Keywords:

Basketball | Cross Dressing | Beautiful Woman | Hit In Crotch | Male Nudity

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Miguel A. Núñez Jr.	...	Jamal Jefferies / Juwanna Mann
Vivica A. Fox	...	Michelle Langford
Kevin Pollak	...	Lorne Daniels
Tommy Davidson	...	Puff Smokey Smoke
Kim Wayans	...	Latisha Jansen
Jenifer Lewis	...	Aunt Ruby
Ginuwine	...	Romeo
Kimberly 'Lil' Kim' Jones	...	Tina Parker
Annie Corley	...	Coach Rivers
Tammi Reiss	...	Vicki Sanchez
Heather Quella	...	Magda Rowonowitch
Angie Cossey	...	Natalie Kemper
Itoro Coleman	...	Debbie Scruggs
Terry Loughlin	...	Commissioner
Bonnie Johnson	...	Lorne's Secretary

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language and sex-related material.

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | Malaysia:U | Netherlands:AL | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | France:U | Germany:6 | Spain:T | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #38164) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Charlotte Coliseum - 100 Paul Buck Boulevard, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Company:

Morgan Creek Productions

Trivia:

In her first WUBA game, Juwanna is seen gnawing on a towel on the bench. This is an allusion to Jerry Tarkanian, the college basketball coach who gnawed on towels during the game.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the scene where all the girls are in a hotel room together talking about men, Juwanna stands up and begins to talk. She walks from between the beds to the right and in front of the dresser and mirror. Instantly, she moves back to the left between the beds.

Quotes:

Latisha Jansen: Me? I like to keep it simple. Give me a good book and a good bitch and I'm straight.

Movie Connections:

References Jerry Maguire (1996)

Soundtrack:

Welcome to My World

Broad comedy-in-drag aspires to little and achieves less

Despite faint allusions to morals learned from Tootsie, Love & Basketball, and Mrs. Doubtfire, this low-budget farce is more of a cross between Sorority Boys and Kazaam without quite capturing the charm of either. It doesn't help that Kevin Pollak, the actor with the most accomplished credits in the movie throws away the obviously golden mold of Sydney Pollack in Tootsie to allude to playing Jay Mohr in Jerry Maguire but settle for a pale imitation (to the extent such a thing is possible) of Geoffrey Tambor in the odious Life Stinks. I gave this a 2 instead of a 1 because the title star does make a fairly attractive and physically convincing female athlete when he's not clowning around. Of course, it only gets a 2 instead of a potential 5 or 6 because the film provides NO explanation of how he overnight became familiar enough with female impersonation techniques to pull such a good one off so quickly.

There are a few laughs in this unpretentious and undemanding brain-dead comedy, so if you are looking for background noise while you balance your checkbook or if you have yet to graduate 5th grade, you may find this acceptable. Otherwise, skip it.