There are a lot of things that are really corny-looking about the trailer for Just Wright, Queen Latifah's upcoming romantic comedy with Common and Paula Patton:
But you know what? I'm going to see it, and this is why:
1. Queen Latifah's character has a job, and is very, very good at it. I like that this is a romance of equals. Obviously, rehabbing an injured NBA player isn't the Most Important Thing of All Time, but the fact that they fall in love while working together at least qualifies as having something else at stake than the question of whether Common can possibly love her.
2. She eats, and there doesn't appear to be a subplot where she gets skinny (and stops wearing an awesome Nets jersey) so Common will love her. The jokes about her eating appear to be much more about vitality and a kind of sensuality than about her being a Cheery Fat Girl. I like that she and Common probably kiss for the first time over a plate of cookies. I know it sounds like I'm harping on a little thing. But romantic comedies, whether the female lead is skinny, or curvy, or actually heavy, tend not to treat eating as one of the great sensual experiences and one of the great tools of seduction, even though it is. There are exceptions, of course, the movies that are all about food, like Eat Drink Man Woman and No Reservations. But in general, romantic comedies do a poor job of integrating food into the courting process, even though going out to eat or to drink is one of the most common things people do on dates.
3. She's a sports fan. There are not enough female sports fans in movies. I totally empathize with her.
4. I have real mixed feelings about the ways they've set up Paula Patton's character here, as a frustrating, materialistic, judgmental gold digger. But I do like movies that engage with the idea that women beat each other and themselves up over men in ways that are completely counterproductive and idiotic. And I like that she's got a movie role where she isn't playing a literal or metaphorical saint.