If, like me, you're unfamiliar with "Noah's Arc," the cable series on which the feature-length spinoff "Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom" is based, it might be helpful to think of the series and its spinoff as a male version of "The Golden Girls." A young, gay, African American male version of "The Golden Girls."

At least that's what the movie feels like.

As broad as the beloved "Golden Girls" sitcom and with the emotional depth of a wading pool, "Jumping the Broom" takes place over a single wintry weekend on Martha's Vineyard, where a tightly knit group of friends has gathered to celebrate the nuptials of Noah (Darryl Stevens) and Wade (Jensen Atwood). The phrase "jumping the broom," by the way, refers to a traditional African American wedding ritual.

It goes without saying that jealousies, misunderstandings and comic hissy fits -- mostly courtesy of Alex (Rodney Chester), the group's ad hoc wedding planner and an over-the-top treat -- will ensue. And that all loose ends will be tidily tied up into a big romantic bow by the closing credits.

But before then, many a conversation will be had over food, wine and the requisite hot tub about love, freedom, commitment, relationships (both sexual and non) and fidelity. At times, over the course of what seems like the longest -- or at least the chattiest -- two days you've ever lived through, it isn't quite clear whom exactly this film is geared to.

While much of the naughty humor is clearly tailored to fans of the gay series, the film frequently sinks to a kind of humorless preachiness. At those points, the film turns into an infomercial aimed at all the uptight straights out there, as when Wade's formerly homophobic mother (Tonya Pinkins) sagely opines, "I have it on very good authority that sexuality is not a choice."

-- Michael O'Sullivan (Oct. 24, 2008)

Contains crude language, partial nudity and sexual references.