Juwanna Mann

Juwanna Mann is aware of its own lack of originality, and it doesn't care--and that makes this routine comedy easy to enjoy, if not admire. It's Tootsie on the basketball court, dribbling over the same sexual-identity jokes, and pushing inevitably toward the same life lessons, this time learned by spoiled hoop star Jamal Jeffries (Miguel A. Nunez), who is ejected from the NBA, loses everything, and gains it back by posing as the vivaciously female "Juwanna Mann" in the "WUBA" basketball league. Utterly predictable high jinks ensue: Jamal in the ladies' shower; Jamal falling for his lovely team captain (Vivica A. Fox); Jamal fending off a lusty rapper (Tommy Davis, stealing the show)... and so on. If you like falling dominoes, you'll like this movie: it's played for easy laughs, it's relatively painless compared to, say, a Rob Schneider comedy, and it gets the job done. It's no slam dunk, but its fouls are excusable. --Jeff Shannon