A half-baked mix of stale ingredients.

Rated PG-13 for drug content, sexual references and language; 88 minutes.

Now open everywhere.

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Admirably, The Cookout aims to celebrate the cohesion of an extended African-American family. That's about all to be admired, though, in this witless comedy of stereotypes.

Todd Andersen (actor-musician Storm P) aims to keep things real after being picked first in the draft (as an indicator of the movie's budget, no NBA logos are seen). But new gold-digging girlfriend Brittany (Meagan Good) is urging Todd to spend his contract money, despite warnings from his agent (Jonathan Silverman) and no-nonsense mom (Jenifer Lewis, the movie's only bright spot).

Todd throws a family cookout in his new mansion, and everyone on the guest list is a clich: The stoner cousins, the conspiracy-theorist uncle (Tim Meadows), the uptight judge next door (Danny Glover) and his trophy wife (Farrah Fawcett), the gay caterer, the gangsta from the 'hood (Ja Rule), and so on.

Director Lance Rivera (a veteran of hip-hop videos) bounces from one subplot to the next, hardly noticing that none has any jokes or interesting characters. Even the slapstick involving the subdivision's unhinged security guard (Queen Latifah, one of the executive producers) is forced. The Cookout turns out to be an indigestible plate of movie leftovers.

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