Every Queen Latifah movie, ranked

In "The Cookout," a professional basketball player moves into a new home in an expensive neighborhood, and becomes preoccupied with his image when his friends and family clash with his new neighbors.

"Everything else here — from the gross caricatures to the so-called comic mayhem — is sour to taste," wrote Kimberley Jones of the Austin Chronicle.

Critic score: 5%

In "Taxi, Fallon plays Andrew Washburn, an incompetent NYPD detective, who gets banned from driving and is forced to rely upon Belle (Latifah), a taxi driver with dreams of being a NASCAR driver.

"I expected this to be much funnier: Latifah coasts on her charm, and Fallon seems incapable of playing an actual character," wrote Chicago Reader's Hank Sartin.

Critic score: 9%

Latifah has a small part in "Sphere," a sci-fi thriller that follows a crew of experts to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean to examine what they assume to be an alien spacecraft. However, things are not what they seem.

"Given its situational premise — outer space goes underwater — 'Sphere' is filled with visual potential, yet Levinson can't tap it. He's just a whole lot more comfortable trying to tame the human software than the technical hardware," wrote Rick Groen of the Globe and Mail.

Critic score: 11%

In the fifth and final (for now) "Ice Age" film, the characters must deal with an impending asteroid impact. Along the way Ellie (Latifah) and her husband, Manny (Ray Romano), prepare for the wedding of their daughter, Peaches (Keke Palmer) and her fiancé Julian (Adam DeVine).

"So, here we are: five films in, and by the time we've finished with the introductions, there's hardly any time for a movie or jokes. Laugh? Not even once; not even close," wrote Tara Brady of the Irish Times.

Critic score: 18%

"Valentine's Day" follows a connected ensemble all throughout their Valentine's Days. Latifah plays Paula, an intimidating sports agent for Eric Dane's NFL player Sean Jackson, as well as the boss to Anne Hathaway's character Elizabeth Curran, who moonlights as a phone sex operator.

"Garry Marshall ... knows his audience ... He delivers what we expect and here he does it all tied up in a heart-shaped box with a big red bow — make that lots of big red bows. Kitschy? You bet. But it's fun," wrote Debbie Lynn Elias of Behind The Lens.

Critic score: 18%

In "The Perfect Holiday," which Latifah also produced, Mrs. Christmas and her fellow angel Bah Humbug (Terrence Howard) narrate the unfolding of a relationship between single mom Nancy and aspiring songwriter Benjamin.

"Queen Latifah and Terrence Howard just show up enough in 'The Perfect Holiday' to either pick up a paycheck or return some kind of mysterious unpaid debt to writer-director Lance Rivera," wrote Matt Keleman of Las Vegas CityLife.

Critic score: 19%

In the sequel to "House Party," Kid and Play must scheme to find a way to pay Kid's college tuition after Play gives his scholarship check to a con artist. Their solution? To throw a pajama party filled with scantily clad women and charge men admission.

"'House Party 2' is a genial and good-humored sequel to the surprise 1990 hit, but not much more," wrote Roger Ebert for the Chicago Sun-Times.

Critic score: 21%

In "Mad Money," Latifah plays Nina, who works the dollar-bill shredder at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. She gets roped into a plan designed by Bridget (Keaton) that involves the trio stealing dollar bills that are set to be destroyed.

"There's an old saying: 'I wrote you a long letter because I didn't have time to write a short one.' In the case of 'Mad Money,' I'll write a short review because the movie won't sustain a long one. (It barely sustains itself.)," wrote the Wall Street Journal's Joe Morgenstern.

Critic score: 22%

In "The Dilemma," Vince Vaughn and Kevin James co-star as Ronny and Nick, partners in an auto design firm. When Ronny catches Nick's wife Geneva cheating on him, he must decide what to do.

"A comedy without laughs, and a drama without tension," wrote the Independent's Anthony Quinn.

Critic score: 24%

Latifah's Dr. Twitchell is a marriage counselor to unhappy newlyweds Jack and Joy, who are forced to stay together after drunkenly getting married, winning $3 million at a slot machine, and subsequently arguing about if they are required to split the prize.

"What happens in Vegas? The same stuff you've seen in every B-grade romantic comedy for the last 50 years," wrote Richard Propes of The Independent Critic.

Critic score: 26%

"The Bone Collector" is a crime drama based on the book of the same name. Thelma is a nurse to a quadriplegic forensics expert, Lincoln Rhyme, played by Denzel Washington. He's called into an unusual murder case involving a serial killer.

"A desperate send-up of authentic evil, a True Crime! tabloid 'zine thriller packaged with all the subtlety and restraint of children's toothpaste," wrote Entertainment Today's Brent Simon.

Critic score: 29%

"The Country Bears" is based on the Disney World ride, the Country Bear Jamboree. In the film, the bears are a disbanded country group who are all brought together for one last hurrah.

"By turns numbingly dull-witted and disquietingly creepy," wrote the Austin Chronicle's Marc Savlov.

Critic score: 31%

Vi becomes the new director of her church choir, but feuds with the old director's widow, played by Dolly Parton, who believed she deserved the job instead.

"'Joyful Noise' comes alive in the performance scenes but the dramatic dialogue is so insipid that even good actors sound as though they're reading from a generic cut-and-paste script," wrote Metro UK's Anna Smith.

Critic score: 32%

The rapper plays Charlene, a woman who is set up with tax attorney Peter Sanderson (Steve Martin) on a blind date — then she tries to blackmail him into clearing her name of armed robbery.

"The friction between [Martin's] button-down lawyer, Peter Sanderson, and ghetto-fabulous fugitive Charlene Morton (Queen Latifah) produces dazzling comic sparks in an otherwise stale set-up," wrote Stella Papamichael of the BBC.

Critic score: 34%

"Scary Movie 3's" plot mainly takes from "The Ring," "8 Mile," "The Matrix Reloaded," and "Signs." Latifah's character, The Oracle, and her husband, Orpheus, are clear references to the Oracle and Morpheus in "The Matrix" films.

"The first one was original, the second was still funny, but the third installment is on autopilot," wrote AP's Sheila Norman-Culp.

Critic score: 35%

The fourth film focuses on Ellie and Manny trying to help their daughter Peaches fit in, while Manny becomes exceedingly protective — all the while dealing with constant land shifts.

"The best bits are basic and all but voiceless: those Scrat-intensive set pieces, still inspiredly squirrelly if much too far apart," wrote the Village Voice's Jonathan Kiefer.

Critic score: 37%

Gina moves from Chicago to Atlanta to let her daughter attend private music school. After her rude boss continually criticizes her, she quits and buys her own run-down salon.

The BBC's Stella Papamichael wrote, "Latifah carries the weight of this film and does an impressive job given a script that's crying out for a total restyle."

Critic score: 38%

"My Life" centers around married couple Bob and Gail — and what happens to their family when Bob finds out he's been diagnosed with advanced kidney cancer while his wife is pregnant with their first child. Latifah plays a hospice nurse, Theresa, who helps Bob towards the end of his life.

"The only thing dense and expansive ... is the sentimentality," wrote Alistair Owen of Time Out.

Critic score: 42%

"Hoodlum" is a fictionalized version of the real gang war that took place between the Italian/Jewish mafia alliance and the Black gangsters of Harlem in the 1920s and '30s in New York City.

"This is a gangster movie in a sense, but it is also about free enterprise," wrote Roger Ebert for the Chicago Sun-Times.

Critic score: 43%

"Miracles from Heaven" is based on a true story of a young girl who, after years of chronic illness, falls 30 feet from a tree branch and is miraculously cured of her illness.

"'Miracles from Heaven' is manipulative, blunt, super-Christian propaganda that's dignified and deeply moving in its own way," wrote Kevin Maher of The London Times.

Critic score: 45%

At the beginning of "Dawn of the Dinosaurs," Manny and Ellie are preparing for the birth of their baby, while the rest of their friends are grappling with their desires for families of their own outside of the Herd.

Ben Lyons of At the Movies wrote, "The whole movie is more of the same and I'm afraid the franchise is running out of steam."

Critic score: 46%

In "Just Wright," Latifah plays Leslie Wright, a physical therapist who falls in love with professional basketball player Scott McKnight, played by Common.

"Easy-going and sweet-natured, this 'romantic sports comedy' finally dissolves into a gooey mess of over-cooked comfort food," wrote the Guardian's Peter Bradshaw.

Critic score: 46%

Latifah plays Georgia, a woman who, after getting diagnosed with a rare and fatal brain condition, takes a long-awaited European vacation and lives her life the way she always wanted to.

"Money can buy you happiness in this inferior remake — although its makeover storyline may please fans of The Princess Diaries et al," wrote Anna Smith of Empire Magazine.

Critic score: 56%

Ellie makes her first appearance in "Ice Age 2," in which she gradually falls in love with Manny while the group deals with climate change.

"The storyline wanes towards the end and, from the kids' point of view, the whole package lacks momentum," wrote Derek Adams of Time Out.

Critic score: 57%

"Living Out Loud" focuses on a newly single woman, Judith, bonding with her apartment building's super and elevator operator. Liz is Judith's friend who wants to help her love life.

"'Living Out Loud' presents the delightful surprise of Danny DeVito as a romantic lead. And he also sings," wrote Betty Jo Tucker of ReelTalk Movie Reviews.

Critic score: 59%

Latifah plays a beekeeper living in South Carolina who takes in Lily, a young girl who is convinced she killed her mother (due to lies her abusive father has told her her entire life).

"The story was okay, but I think there was an underlying mammy factor that rubbed me the wrong way," wrote Reel Talk Online's Candice Frederick.

Critic score: 59%

Latifah narrates the documentary which follows the lives of multiple animals trying to live in the Arctic tundra, including polar bears and walruses.

"It's a playful study of Arctic life, starring a polar bear cub, its prey, and a tag-along fox — with the inevitable dramatic moments when bear meets walrus," wrote Debbie Day of Premiere Magazine.

Critic score: 61%

"Brown Sugar" is about the evolving relationship between Sid, the new editor-in-chief of XXL Magazine, and her best friend Dre, an A&R rep for Millennium Records. Latifah plays Francine, Sid's cousin.

Ann Hornaday of the Washington Post wrote, "You don't have to know about music to appreciate the film's easygoing blend of comedy and romance."

Critic score: 66%

The sequel focuses on the effects of gentrification on the barber shop, while also introducing Gina, an ex of Calvin's with her own beauty shop.

"The banter is tighter and funnier, and Calvin's musings on the importance of community seem more heartfelt," wrote Nick De Semlyen of Empire Magazine.

Critic score: 68%

"Set It Off" is about a group of friends who work for a janitorial services company for a lousy boss and no money — so they decide to start robbing banks to get back at an unfair system.

Roger Ebert wrote for the Chicago Sun-Times, "The movie surprised and moved me: I expected a routine action picture and was amazed how much I started to care about the characters."

Critic score: 69%

"Stranger Than Fiction" is a film in which Harold Crick, a normal-if-not-boring IRS agent, begins hearing the voice of author Karen Eiffel in his head, narrating his life. He eventually figures out he's a character in Eiffel's new story, and she's having trouble writing it. Latifah plays Penny, Eiffel's assistant.

"The actors and the filmmakers all take a more restrained approach than you might expect, keeping the humor gentle, and the jokes mostly as literary as the premise," wrote Bob Mondello for NPR.

Critic score: 73%

"Juice" is about four Black teens living in Harlem, who get caught up in crime and danger when a convenience store robbery goes wrong, and Bishop, one of the friends played by Tupac, gets addicted to the thrill of killing. Latifah has a small part as a DJ named Ruffhouse MC.

"'Juice' captures the traumatic and anxious roots of American gangsterism better than just about any other entry in the evergreen genre," wrote Screen Slate's Patrick Dahl.

Critic score: 79%

"Chicago," based on the Broadway musical, follows Roxie Hart as she heads to prison for shooting her lover, after discovering he can't make her famous like he promised. She ends up on death row, under the care of Latifah's Mama Morton.

"Whatever one's qualms about the material, its execution here is rock solid in ways that keep on impressing, right through to the niftiest end credits sequence in years," wrote Tim Robey of the Daily Telegraph.

Critic score: 86%

"Girls Trip" follows the "Flossy Posse," a group of college friends reuniting in New Orleans for a weekend of fun at Essence Fest — but old resentments cause drama. Latifah's Sasha is a struggling gossip blogger who runs her own site.

Richard Propes of the Independent Critic wrote, "A perfect example of a film where the cast truly matters."

Critic score: 91%

Latifah plays "Motormouth" Maybelle Stubbs, a DJ in Baltimore who's the host of the monthly "Negro Day" event during local hit show "The Corny Collins Show." Her children, Seaweed and Little Inez, befriend Tracy, Penny, and Link.

"This film leaps at you with such joy and vigor and generosity you cannot reject it," wrote Deborah Ross for the Spectator.

Critic score: 91%