Review of Putney Swope (1969) by Eric R — 19 Feb 2010

Robert Downey Sr.'s scathing comedy of race relations and the ad industry circa 1969, opens with a terrific scene in which Putney Swope, the token black man on an ad agency board is "accidentally" elected CEO. Solid comedy ensues for the next 30 or so minutes as the old white guys are swept out and Black Power reigns, highlighted by numerous commercials for bogus products and a unique take on the US president portrayed as a dope smoking dwarf.

The movie loses momentum in the 2nd half as the story becomes increasingly disjointed, the script stops making sense, and the funny is replaced with the type of zany, in your face antics and sight gags popular in the day, but badly dated now. Still, always interesting and worth checking out as a product of it's time.