ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

Imagine if "Mrs Doubtfire" went over to "Big Momma's House" with "Tootsie" to watch a basketball match.

That's the basic premise of this lame gender-bending comedy in which top male basketball star Jamal Jeffries (Nuñez Jr) is kicked out of the league for being an arrogant prima donna.

Faced with a mounting pile of debts and an agent who won't return his calls, Jamal puts on a dress, fake boobs, a wig, and some lippy to become Juwanna Mann... the new star of women's league basketball.

You'd think that even the least accomplished comedy team could get some guffaws out of Nuñez wearing a dress, but debut director Jesse Vaughan can't even stir a whimper.

Ignoring all the comic potential of Jamal's transformation from he to she, "Juwanna Mann" is more interested in its feelgood message about Jamal's change from arrogant 'macho' star to caring, sharing 'female' player than the art of walking in high heels.

Fortunately, there's some enjoyable support from Kevin Pollak ("The Usual Suspects") as Jamal/Juwanna's manic agent, and comic relief from Tommy Davidson (last seen as Sleep'n'Eat in Spike Lee's "Bamboozled"), who pops up as gold-toothed rapper named Puff Smokey Smoke and takes an unwelcome shine to Juwanna.

With his dapper suits, walking cane, and 22-carat smile, Davidson could have stolen the movie, but he obviously didn't think it was worth the effort. And he was right.

This mess of a movie is nothing short of a travesty of a transvestite comedy.