Title: Wifey
Review Date: December, 2008
Year: 2005
Director: Barry Bowles
Cast - in credits order Jazsmin Lewis ... Malika Melrose Tiffany Lowery ... Shalae Carl Gilliard ... Blind Charlie Other credited cast listed alphabetically Brian Hooks ... Trump Christina Lyons ... Clee Rodney Perry ... Icky Hava Seda ... Sara
MPAA Rating: R
Studio: Blueprint Pictures
Distributor: Monarch Home Video
Running time: 90 minutes
Official Website: www.monarchvideo.com


Trump is a thirty year-old self made millionaire who has what he believes is the perfect life. But in the blink of an eye, his world is turned upside down when he loses everything, including his gold-digger fiancé Shalae. Due to his reversal of fortune, Trump is forced to move back to his old, small-town hood. This is where his whacky but lovable grandfather, goof-ball friends and the intellectual and annoying, but all grown up, little girl-next-door Malika still lives. A rocky start leads to a rocky friendship as Malika tries to help Trump get Shalae back to the alter.

An off-beat softball game, fish fry, charity bachelor auction and fashion show all lead up to the inevitable wedding ceremony. Will Trump get the gold digger or the girl-next-door? I will give you only one guess.

There are some genuine laughs in Wifey; and if you are familiar with African-American family-types (Brown Sugar, etc.) you will appreciate many of the situations and inside jokes. It is also interesting to note that the movie was made in 2004 and after a brief festival appearance in February, 2005 did not resurface again till 2008. Perhaps the fact that this is one of the last appearances of actor Lamont Bentley had something to do with it.

A versatile and up and coming actor in both screen and television, Bentley died an untimely death in a car crash at age thirty-one in January, 2005. Over the course of his brief but productive career, he had played many roles including Hakeem Campbell on Moesha and The Parkers as well as Corporal Sea in Buffalo Soldiers. He is missed.

Wifey follows in a great tradition of goofy throw-a-way romantic comedies that have been customized to every ethnicity (Sweet Home Alabama). It doesn’t break any new ground nor give us any new insights. On the other hand it doesn’t have to. It is simply a fun ride with good to better acting and production value. For ninety minutes you can disappear into this silly little film world have a good laugh and forget the greater issues at hand; all for the price of a DVD rental. And that is not a bad thing. Three stars.