Always amiable, sometimes actually amusing blaxploitation spoof, more explicitly a Jim Kelly spoof, directed by Malcolm (cousin of Spike) Lee, in a suitably sleazy style. The free-lance hero (Eddie Griffin, practically licking his chops), an atavistic Seventies superdude sporting a 'fro the radius of a medicine ball, but a master of disguise as well, to enable him to pass in the white-collar world as a fully assimilated Alan Keyes or Clarence Thomas, is recruited by a secret organization abbreviated as B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. (cousin of U.N.C.L.E.), to combat The Man, a shadowy archvillain and architect of Operation Whitewash, bent on stemming the tide of black influence in the culture, turning back the clock on race relations, and robbing African-Americans of their individuality -- in full flower during the big-haired, wide-collared, platform-shoed, gold-medallioned Seventies. The conspiracy, once pointed out, can be seen to be everywhere: "The NBA instituted the three-point shot to give white boys a chance." The fast-and-loose commentary on, or mere litany of, cross-cultural perceptions and stereotypes has something of the snap of a Chris Rock stand-up routine. Besides which, it's educational: who would ever think of mayonnaise as exclusively a Caucasian condiment? If there's a proneness to self-contradiction -- the black man losing his individuality at the same time he's gaining influence, the hero alternating between a Bruce Lee and an Inspector Clouseau -- it's a testament to the knottiness of the issues. With Aunjanue Ellis, Denise Richards, Dave Chappelle, Chi McBride, Chris Kattan. (2002) — Duncan Shepherd
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