Four couples – Taraji P. Henson and Michael Ealy, Romany Malco and Meagan Good, Terrence J and Regina Hall, Jerry Ferrara and Gabrielle Union – learn lessons about maturity and mutual respect in this sprawling romantic comedy based on comic Steve Harvey’s relationship-advice book “Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man.” Director Tim Story keeps the proceedings light with fast-moving quips and frank talk about how men and women still can’t communicate in an era of seemingly unlimited sexual freedom. Since it implicitly treats premarital sex and the option of cohabitation as a given, however, Keith Merryman and David A. Newman’s script offers no genuine critique of this supposed freedom, such as would necessarily be posed by those adhering to scriptural values. Unvarnished, earthy, sometimes over the top but never crude, the film does manage to deliver a reassuring – if secular-minded – homily about the confusing process of looking for, and finding, true love.
Watch out for: Implied premarital relationships, a scene of marijuana use, fleeting profanity, pervasive crude language and sexual banter, and a single use of the N-word.
Rated: A-III; MPAA: PG-13
