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Does Carlos Mencia make it work in "Our Family Wedding"?

With Carlos Mencia and Forest Whitaker starring in "Our Family Wedding" what could go wrong?

By Jake CoyleAssociated Press / March 11, 2010

Carlos Mencia arrives for the New York premier of "Our Family Wedding."

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"Our Family Wedding" — One enters a movie like this bracing for cheesiness.

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But as "Our Family Wedding" moves along, the realization dawns that director Rick Famuyiwa ("The Wood") has made a mostly charming movie despite its cliche milieu.

America Ferrera and Lance Gross play a newly engaged couple who have returned home to Los Angeles to break the news to their families, one black, the other Latino.

A culture clash follows, with patriarchs Forest Whitaker and Carlos Mencia predictably feuding. It loses its balance around the time the goat gets loose and eats a bunch of Viagra.

But, thanks partly to the performances, the film is mostly filled with quieter, more realistic moments. With a soundtrack of Daptone soul, kicked off by Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings. PG-13 for some sexual content and brief strong language.

Running time: 101 minutes. Two stars out of four.

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