Malibu's Most Wanted / Love Don't Cost a Thing PG-13

MALIBU'S MOST WANTED: Jamie Kennedy co-wrote and stars in this surprisingly tender comedy about keeping it real, in more ways than one. Kennedy is Brad "B-Rad" Gluckman, an aspiring gangsta rapper who just so happens to be the son of wealthy California governor hopeful Bill Gluckman (Ryan O'Neal). Fearful that Brad's behavior is ruining Bill's campaign, campaign manager Tom (Blair Underwood) hires two actors to portray real-life gangsters and take B-Rad through an eye-opening tour of the actual 'hood, scaring the "black out of him." Sean (Taye Diggs) and P.J. (Anthony Anderson) are forced to recruit P.J.'s cousin, Shondra (Regina Hall), to help out with the scam, considering they're as ignorant of the ghetto as B-Rad himself. Soon, the game is underway. But when Shondra's ex-boyfriend (Damien Dante Wayans) becomes jealous of her seeming affection for B-Rad, he brings actual bullets into the mix. As the danger level rises, B-Rad begins to understand just how misunderstood he is. Yet he never buckles under the pressure, proving that if one stays true to oneself, anything is possible. Director John Whitesell finally makes the leap from television to the big-screen with this charming comedy, which is packed with laughs and a bumping hip-hop soundtrack.

LOVE DON'T COST A THING: Emerging superstar Nick Cannon follows up 2002's surprise hit DRUMLINE with this good-natured high school romp. A remake of 1987's CAN'T BUY ME LOVE, LOVE DON'T COST A THING transplants its zero-to-hero fairy tale to urban Los Angeles. Cannon plays Alvin Johnson, an all-around nerd who cleans neighborhood pools and builds car engines in his spare time. Unfortunately, these skills don't win popularity contests, rendering Alvin and his friends invisible to the cool crowd. But when the school's most unattainable girl, Paris Morgan (Christina Milian), wrecks her mother's car, Alvin approaches her with a ludicrous proposition: he'll fix her car if she pretends to be his girl for two weeks. She grudgingly agrees, and the very next morning, Alvin is popular for the very first time and miraculously begins to garner the attention that he's been craving his whole life--to the dismay of his now-shunned buddies. But when he starts to get too big for his Sean-Paul sweat suit, Paris is forced to pull the plug. Troy Beyer's breezy romantic comedy features an ultra-popular hip-hop soundtrack that includes songs from Nelly and R. Kelly, and another winning performance from the multi-talented Cannon.