‘Who Made The Potatoe Salad?’ dull as boiled potatoes
By Julie Brown-Micko

It’s a tale as old as time, told through music, literature, movies, and yes, even food. A young man and woman fall in love and want to marry. There’s only one problem: her family disapproves. Love always triumphs in the end, but the journey is never easy. Sadly, in the case of Who Made the Potatoe Salad? (Dan Quayle was not listed in the writing credits so no idea why the extra “e” on “potato”), the humorless trip is as tasteless and dull as a boiled potato.

The young lover is Michael (Jaleel White, “Urkel” from the Family Matters sitcom is all grown up), an incompetent but good-natured cop who falls for Ashley (Jennia Fredrique). She happily accepts his proposal, but worries when she considers her family’s reaction. The young couple attempts the trifecta of familial terror: not only is she introducing her boyfriend to her family for the first time, they are announcing their engagement and doing it over Thanksgiving dinner. Goofy, naïve Michael is unfazed and believes everything will be OK, until he spots the shotgun in Ashley’s father’s car. Turns out that Mr. Jenkins (Clifton Powell) is an ex-Black Panther who hates cops, Ashley’s brother Junebug (DeRay Davis) is a pothead, gang-banger wannabe who hates cops, and her ex-boyfriend is a towering slab of a man named “Monster,” who (guess what?) hates cops.

Most of the humor is decidedly unfunny. One running gag involves the Jenkins physically trying to force ham, sausage and pork chops down Michael’s throat when they discover that he doesn’t eat pork. The scene is uncomfortable and cruel rather than funny. And Mr. Jenkins delivers foul-mouthed threats not only to Michael but to his daughter Ashley as well. There is no gentle paternal love or over-the-top silliness to soften his deadpan brutality: when he threatens to knock Ashley’s head off, you are inclined to believe it. Jaleel White tries to bring some humor to his scenes, particularly through his limber face and the occasionally high-pitched squeak of indignation, but it’s not enough. He’s a kindly fool surrounded by very unfunny characters.

All comedies end in marriage and this one is no different. We are meant to wonder just how poor Michael will win over Ashley’s dysfunctional family but it’s hard to care. There are not enough laughs to lighten the mood and the few scenes of pathos (like Mrs. Jenkins explaining to her husband that he is perpetuating a cycle of father-in-law/son-in-law abuse that her father started) are too heavy-handed to feel sincere.

When it comes to good Thanksgiving, food, and family flicks there are plenty to choose from: Home for the Holidays, Pieces of April, What’s Cooking, and Soul Food, to name a few. When you hunger for good family drama with a bit of humor, pass on Who Made the Potatoe Salad? Choose something else.