30 Years to Life is a 2001 American

Cinema of the United States

The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...

 comedy film

Comedy film

Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...

, written

Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

 and directed

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 by Vanessa Middleton. The film marks Middleton's directorial debut, and stars Allen Payne, Paula Jai Parker

Paula Jai Parker

Paula Jai Parker is an American actress and comedian. She is best known of her roles as Lexus in Hustle & Flow, Joi in Friday, and as the voice of matriarch Trudy Proud on the Disney Channel animated sitcom The Proud Family....

, and Tracy Morgan

Tracy Morgan

Tracy Morgan is an American comedian who is best known for his eight seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and currently known for playing the role of Tracy Jordan on the NBC series 30 Rock.-Early life:...

.

Plot

A handful of close friends, due to turn 30, discover that their dreams for the future are running headfirst into the realities of adulthood in this character-driven comedy-drama. Natalie is a banker who is happy with her job, but is tired of being single, and her pursuit of a husband is taking her down several blind alleys in the world of dating. Joy has developed a similar desire to settle down and get married, but while she has a long-term boyfriend, Leland, he is not so sure he wants to make a lifetime commitment. Troy is a comic who has been on the verge of a career breakthrough for years, but he is starting to wonder if his big break is ever going to arrive. Malik is a white-collar executive who thinks life is passing him by, and is pondering giving up a stable career to start over as a male model. And Stephanie is comfortable with her job in real estate, but she is not so comfortable with herself as she struggles with a weight problem she's had since childhood.

Cast

• Allen Payne as Malik
• Erika Alexander
  Erika Alexander
  Erika Alexander is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Pam Tucker on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show, and as Maxine Shaw on the FOX sitcom Living Single. She has won numerous awards for her work on Living Single, including two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actress in a...
  
   as Joy
• Kadeem Hardison
  Kadeem Hardison
  Kadeem Hardison is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dwayne Wayne on A Different World, a spin-off of the long-running NBC sitcom The Cosby Show.-Childhood:...
  
   as Bruce
• Melissa De Sousa
  Melissa De Sousa
  Melissa De Sousa is an American actress. De Sousa was born in New York City, New York of Panamanian descent. She is an Afro-Latino.-Early life:...
  
   as Natalie
• Paula Jai Parker
  Paula Jai Parker
  Paula Jai Parker is an American actress and comedian. She is best known of her roles as Lexus in Hustle & Flow, Joi in Friday, and as the voice of matriarch Trudy Proud on the Disney Channel animated sitcom The Proud Family....
  
   as Stephanie
• T.E. Russell as Leland
• Tracy Morgan
  Tracy Morgan
  Tracy Morgan is an American comedian who is best known for his eight seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and currently known for playing the role of Tracy Jordan on the NBC series 30 Rock.-Early life:...
  
   as Troy
• Donald Koanegay as Damon
• Eddie Brill
  Eddie Brill
  Eddie Brill is an American comedian, writer, and actor who started his career in Boston, Massachusetts. He is also the warm-up comedian and talent coordinator of Late Show with David Letterman. He tours frequently, performing in the US as well as England, Ireland, France, Australia, Amsterdam, and...
  
   as Lenny
• Grace Garland
  Grace Garland
  Grace Garland is a singer-songwriter and actress. She rose to fame in the early 1980s playing Vera Vanderbilt on the TV series "All My Children." She later went on to become a series regular on The Apollo Comedy Hour TV series filmed at the famous Harlem Apollo Theater...
  
   as Dr. Love

Awards & nominations

2003 Black Reel Awards

Black Reel Awards of 2003

Here are the nominees and winners of the 2003 Black Reel Awards....

• Best Independent Actor (Theatrical) — Erika Alexander
  Erika Alexander
  Erika Alexander is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Pam Tucker on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show, and as Maxine Shaw on the FOX sitcom Living Single. She has won numerous awards for her work on Living Single, including two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actress in a...
  
   (winner)
• Best Independent Actress (Theatrical) — Melissa De Sousa
  Melissa De Sousa
  Melissa De Sousa is an American actress. De Sousa was born in New York City, New York of Panamanian descent. She is an Afro-Latino.-Early life:...
  
   (nominated)

2001 Sundance Film Festival

Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...

• Grand Jury Prize — Dramatic (nominated)