In this feel-good comedy with a positive message, Mo'Nique stands up for all the overweight women given short shrift by society. One of a group of three friends that includes her hot-to-trot thin cousin Mia (Joyful Drake) and her frumpy friend Stacey (Kendra C. Johnson), Jazmin dreams of starting her own fashion line for big girls. Meanwhile her crash diets aren't working and she hasn't been with a man in nine months. Then she wins a trip to Palm Springs and meets Tunde (Jimmy Jean-Louis), a Nigerian doctor, for whom big means beautiful. Romance is all set to bloom, but that's where this Cinderella story takes a sudden detour. Jazmin learns there's more to happiness than a gorgeous man, especially when her low self-esteem keeps him at arm's length.

With its interesting insights into weight discrimination and its celebratory depiction of African and African American culture, PHAT GIRLZ grows into a "feel good about yourself" movie, no matter what size, gender, or color you may be. Comedy star Mo'Nique proves she's got the heft to carry a leading feature film role, especially during her mannequin-destroying, room-shredding third act meltdown. As her knight in shining armor, Jean-Louis does the beaming-with-African-charm-and-dignity thing very well, and even though she's not phat, Joyful Drake still looks pretty sexy as the petite-sized cousin, letting it all hang out at the Palm Springs poolside.