Review: Love Jacked will make you miss Coming to America, but not in a good way

Love Jacked

Directed by Alfons Adetuyi

Written by Robert Adetuyi, Linda Eskeland

Starring: Amber Stevens West and Keith David

Classification: PG; 93 minutes

Rating:

Amos Crawley, back, Amber Stevens West, Shamier Anderson and Mike Epps, right, in Love Jacked.

In a sappy piece of nonsense posing as a screwball rom-com, a young woman comes clean to her family about a wacky fake-fiancé scheme she concocted (for no real reason at all).

“That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” says her father, played by the dependable Keith David. His exasperation surely speaks for most anyone watching this bland concoction from Canadian filmmaker Alfons Adetuyi. Sure, Shamier Anderson (posing as the African love interest) can light up the screen with his smile and easy charisma.

And he does a great take on the whole Eddie Murphy/Coming to America thing. But co-star Amber Stevens West seems to take her director’s call for “action” as a suggestion not a command. As a result, the film’s ruse is a snooze. The only thing jacked here is the hour and a half wasted watching this film.

Love Jacked opens Dec. 7