Review of Bamboozled (2000) by Leslie C — 01 Mar 2009

I never thought I would find a movie better or equal to Spike Lee's very good Do the Right Thing. As luck would have it, Bamboozled is an equally entertaining and real satirical film that takes a hard, concentrated look at one of the oldest forms of racisim: blackface.

As a hip, young, and very well educated black TV writer, Damon Wayan's character (very annoying at first but then becomes a very important and powerful role. Good job on his part) begins to realize his impending doom with a TV production company that just doesn't get him.

He then decides to throw caution to the wind and create a ridiculously racist and very controversial show about badly stereotyped black people (i.e. all blackface, watermelon, cotton, everything imaginable) with help from his assistant Jada Pinkett Smith (whose very good in this) and his two stars (famous tap dancer and very surprisingly good actor Savion Glover and Tommy Davidson, whose usually very wacky, but delivers an amazingly real and dramatic performance.

Both of these men were great in this film). Much to everyone's surprise, the show is a hit to the white executives and they start filming immediately and the moment they introduce it to a mixed race audience proves to be shocking, powerful, and then hilarious.

The show's a hit and makes the blackface grow in popularity, regardless of who or what it hurts. Much like any other fad, blackface reaches its height of popularity and then comes crashing down in a very dark and unsettling climax that Spike Lee forces you to watch.

Very powerful film. Every person in this film delivers a terrific performance and Lee truly embodies the Satire, regardless of how uncomfortable this film obviously made people feel (because it sure as hell wasn't a box office smash hit).

More people really need to watch this and feel the impact one simple symbol can do to people. Very good film.