Juwanna Man

  • Review Date: May 19, 2003
  • PG-13
  • Genre: Comedy
  • 2002
 Review

Common Sense Media says

Cross-dressing sports comedy has lockerroom humor.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

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Kids say

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What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this movie has a lot of raunchy humor, mostly revolving around Jamal's anatomical differences from his teammates, but pretty typical for the increasingly graphic PG-13 rating.


What's the story?

Jamal Jeffries (Miguel A. Nunez Jr., in his first starring role) is a star pro basketball player whose bad attitude and poor sportsmanship are constantly getting him in trouble. He is indefinitely suspended after one particular mishap. Low on money, he takes up his only option: dressing like woman and playing women's basketball.


Is it any good?

 

JUWANNA MAN is Tootsie on a basketball team. A conceited pro basketball player gets fired, and the only job he can get is on a woman's team. So, he dresses up like a woman. He's in for some lessons about life, and we're in for some locker room humor. The film was a bit of a surprise, though with a nice spirit and a willingness to avoid the obvious. It's nowhere near the quality of Some Like it Hot or Tootsie, or even Mrs. Doubtfire, but it is better than recent cross-dressing films like Big Momma's House and the abominable Sorority Boys.

Besides the talented stars, a supporting cast consisting of reliable character actors like Kevin Pollak, Tommy Davidson, and Wayans' sister Kim, as well as good turns from hip-hop stars Genuwine and Lil' Kim. The "dude looks like a lady" plot has been done many times before and there's nothing new here, from the awkward moments with the love interest to the big moment where all is revealed to the men who were hitting on the main character. So the plot is predictable and a lot of the jokes are lazy. Although there were no surprises and some gratuitous stereotypes, I found myself caring about the characters.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about the behavior that got Jamal fired from his team at the beginning of the movie. How would the average person have been treated? Also, how does Jamal's attitude toward -- and treatment of -- women change over the course of the movie? What does he learn?


This review was written by Nell Minow
Adult
February 5, 2009
 
i laughed

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Teen, 16 years old
April 9, 2008
 
Juwanna Man?
Pretty good. And its pretty funny too.

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This review was written by Nell Minow
Studio:Warner Bros.
Director:Jesse Vaughn
Cast:Kevin Pollak, Miguel A. Nunez, Vivica A. Fox
Genre:Comedy
Run time:91 minutes
Theatrical release date:June 21, 2002
DVD release date:November 19, 2002
MPAA rating:PG-13
MPAA explanation:language and sexual references

This review was written by Nell Minow
 

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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