Seemingly assembled from ideas on the cutting-room floor of a cancelled sitcom, the lazy, formula-bound ensemble comedy The Cookout at least has this to recommend it: It's nobody's vanity project. The story of a college-basketball star (Storm P) who comes into money and moves to an upscale suburb when he's drafted by the New Jersey Nets, it gives virtually every cast member a shot at humiliation. Queen Latifah produced The Cookout and co-conceived its story. Presumably she had her choice of roles for her "special appearance" before opting to play a bumbling-security-guard cameo that even Artie Lange might consider beneath his dignity. As "Bling," an oft-humiliated hood-rat who attempts to make a quick buck on eBay by forcing P to autograph some sneakers, Ja Rule gives 50 Cent enough fodder for at least three insulting songs. Poor Danny Glover not only plays a nasal-voiced, Bush-worshipping suburbanite, but he also has the requisite uptight-authority-figure-drops-some-lingo-and-gets-high-with-the-kids scene. Not to be outdone, Sopranos veteran Vincent Pastore has a cameo. He plays a shit salesman.