Jack Black Falls For Ice Cube's Mom In Upcoming Comedy 'Oh Hell No'

Jack Black is ditching kid-friendly horror and jungle-infused adventures to fall in love again on screen. Black is in talks to star alongside Ice Cube in an upcoming Sony comedy film entitled Oh Hell No, an apt phrase and title for what sounds like an awkward plot.

The news broke via The Hollywood Reporter, who relayed details about the film's plot. The story follows the relationship of Sherman (Black) and Will (Cube) after Sherman falls in love with Will's mom. While the synopsis is pretty vague, one can only cringe at the premise. However, that can make for some great comedy, especially with the right people on board.

Filmmaker Kitao Sakurai (Bad Trip) is set to direct while the script comes from writers Scot Armstrong (Old School), Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip), Jessica Gao (She-Hulk), and Rodney Rothman (Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse).

It's really refreshing to see a diverse group of writers behind the script and Ice Cube seems like a perfect foil to the types of off-the-wall characters played by Black. As a fan of N.W.A, Friday, Anaconda (yeah, I said it) and, Boyz in the Hood, I'm actually looking forward to Ice Cube check Jack Black in a presumably outrageous comedy. Sakurai also has a long history of comedy – he was the director and executive producer for several seasons of Adult Swim's The Eric Andre Show from 2012-2020. He also recently directed episodes for the second season of FX comedy Dave and BJ Novak's upcoming series Platform.

I can only assume there will be a lot of conflict in this film between Sherman and Will. Given the writing crew, it could be a combination of insults, witty humor, satire, and slapstick. However, I do embrace the notion that we could see a love story between an older woman and a younger man. While there are no details on who will play Will's mom, it will be entertaining to see how that on-screen chemistry (or lack thereof) will unfold.

There are few films that successfully capture romances with large age differences and that allow women to age without judgment. The ultimate (and one of my favorite films ever) is Harold and Maude. The 1971 Hal Ashby dark-comedy classic has an authentic heart that is difficult to replicate in today's age without seeming corny or predatory. So, at first glance, my reaction to this new film was on par with its title and was emphasized by my long Texas drawl. But I'm ultimately rooting for it! I just hope that lessons were learned from the fat-shaming rom-com, Shallow Hal. I guess we'll see in April of 2022.