Review: Nobody's Fool
Unleash the Haddish. That's all really one needs to do for audiences to have a good time and that's certainly what writer-director Tyler Perry does in Nobody's Fool, an entertaining if sometimes disjointed mix of R-rated raunch-com and a more straightforward rom-com.
It's no surprise that the majority of the laughs come from Miss Tiffany Haddish, who is such a comedic fireball whose joyous and uncontained energy is both a wonder to behold and impossible to resist. When first we meet Haddish's Tanya, she is fresh out of a five-year prison stint and having some pretty wild sex in the back of a truck with a man she just met in the prison parking lot. A former drug addict, she's been picked up by her overachieving sister, Danica (Tika Sumpter), who has been tasked by their mother Lola (Whoopi Goldberg) to temporarily house Tanya at her place. Lola, a weed dealer frequently high on her own merchandise, is not particularly keen on having Tanya at her house, especially since the last time Tanya was there, she stole all the house's copper wiring in order to score some drugs.
The arrangement suits Tanya just fine - she's never stayed anywhere so fancy - but Danica lays down some rules: no drugs, no alcohol, attend the AA meetings mandated by her parole officer, and get a job. The latter is surprisingly easy, but not so surprising given that Tanya's new boss, coffee shop owner Frank (Omari Hardwick) has a serious crush on Danica, even providing her a single rose with her free coffee every day. Yet Danica does not reciprocate this particular dreamboat's feelings for her as she is head over heels in love with Charlie (Mehcad Brooks), with whom she's conducted a yearlong online relationship and whom Tanya and Callie, Danica's BFF played with engaging sass by Amber Riley, both suspect is catfishing her. After all, it does seem suspicious that Danica has never even met Charlie and that the wi-fi reception on the oil rig on which he works is so poor that he can never do live video calls with her.
Of course, Tanya is there to turn everything upside down and inside out for the impeccably groomed and always in control Danica. Naturally, Danica will let down her guard and her prejudices to give the gentle-hearted Frank a chance. If you don't think there will be a happy ending at the end of all this along with some life lessons, then you've obviously never seen a Tyler Perry film. Though Sumpter and Hardwick make an attractive and endearing couple, their storyline turns too much into a been there, done that generic rom-com to hold much interest (the last 20 minutes of the film feel completely extraneous as a result), especially when watching Tanya wreak havoc, lust after every man that crosses her path, or just riff on random things is infinitely more enjoyable to watch.
Nobody's Fool
Directed by: Tyler Perry
Written by: Tyler Perry
Starring: Tiffany Haddish, Tika Sumpter, Whoopi Goldberg, Omari Hardwick, Amber Riley, Mehcad Brooks, Missi Pyle, Jon Rudnitsky, Chris Rock
