'Jumping the Broom' abstains from laughs

A romantic comedy that preaches abstinence before marriage is so rare that "Jumping the Broom" assumes its viewers may need some educating. The film's romantic male lead, Jason (Laz Alonso), spends a great deal of time explaining how he satisfies himself while waiting for Sabrina (Paula Patton).

Too much information? Produced by the megachurch leader T.D. Jakes (and featuring him in a small role as a wise minister), "Jumping the Broom" stars a cast of adults who use jarringly adult language, yet seem to be preaching to prepubescents. The film also borrows liberally from Tyler Perry -- not only his favorite actors, but also his pandering writing style, which saddles thin characters with boulder-size messages. That's too bad, because the movie's premise, about the culture clash between a rich black family and a poor one, could have made for a brave and insightful comedy.

Angela Bassett and Brian Stokes Mitchell are fine as Sabrina's old-money parents, Claudine and Greg; so is Loretta Devine as Jason's postal-worker mother, Pam. As the wedding approaches, small differences become big issues: It's one thing to look down on dancing the Electric Slide, but quite another not to recognize the slave tradition of jumping a broom in lieu of legal marriage. When Claudine notes that her ancestors weren't slaves but owned some, Pam looks as though she's just met a cannibal.

But there are too few of those scenes and too many that read like cringe-worthy Sunday school pamphlets. Do you know what can happen, boys and girls, if heavy petting goes on for just a minute too long? "Jumping the Broom" is here to tell you.