If you were one of the tragic few who saw "My Baby's Daddy" in theaters a couple years ago, you may have thought: "I wonder what this film's writer and producer Damon 'Coke' Daniels will do next? Will it be as unfunny and inept as 'My Baby's Daddy'?" Then you dismissed the idea as absurd, for surely nothing could be worse than "My Baby's Daddy."

But no! Daniels has gone on to write and direct "Who Made the Potatoe Salad?," an astoundingly bad "Meet the Parents"-style comedy that contains not a single laugh. Other things it does not contain include believable situations, motivated behavior, honest characters, warmth, charm, intelligence, and wit.

So what DOES it contain? Well, there's over-acting. Lots of that. A lot of broad, vulgar sex jokes. A main character who is unsympathetic, unlikable, and not worthy of our attention.

It stars Jaleel White (yes, TV's Urkel, all grown up now) as Michael, a timid, inadequate San Diego police officer who goes with his new fiancee Ashley (Jennia Fredrique) to Los Angeles to meet her family over Thanksgiving. He's never met them before, and he and Ashley intend to announce their engagement.

Ashley's family turns out to be a vulgar, crass assortment of bullies and thugs. Her father (Clifton Powell) HATES cops -- not in a funny way where you get some jokes out of it, but in a mean, vicious way. What's more, he CAN'T. LET. IT. GO. Barely two minutes can pass in the film without him saying something belligerent and hateful to Michael about his being a cop. Ashley's mother (Ella Joyce) is indifferent.

Ashley's brother, June Bug (DeRay Davis), talks like Chingy and has sent for a mail-order bride. Ashley's grandparents are constantly horny (because old people gettin' it on is always funny, right????). Her sister and brother-in-law, also present for the family festivities, are placeholders, with no discernible personality traits.

For over an hour, there is no story to speak of. Michael is with Ashley's family, they hate him for no good reason, he's completely wimpy and spineless and can barely stammer out a sentence, and life is miserable for everyone. Then he gets a really stupid idea for a really stupid way of endearing himself to them, it backfires, and finally something resembling a "plot" emerges for the movie's last 15 minutes or so.

The screenplay is abysmal, but what's more, with Daniels actually behind the camera this time, the film shows an incompetence even in the way it's shot. The slapsticky comedic scenes show a marked lack of energy in the way they're staged and edited; more cutting and fewer long, static takes would make the pace seem much livelier.

Final note: The misspelling of the title is not addressed within the film. Honestly? I think Daniels just misspelled it when he made the movie's opening titles, and if anyone ever pointed it out to him after the fact, there was no money to go back and fix it.


THE DVD

There are optional English and Spanish subtitles, but no alternate language tracks.

VIDEO: Anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1), and not particularly good-looking. The movie was shot on the cheap, and it shows in the bland, washed-out DVD transfer.

AUDIO: Dolby Digital 5.1. Overall OK, though the soundtrack music sometimes overpowers the dialogue.

EXTRAS: None.


IN SUMMARY

This is a dreadful film in every possible way, badly written, directed, acted, photographed, and edited. It's even badly spelled. Do not subject yourself to it.