AMERICAN PIMP
A film review by Christopher Null
Copyright 2000 filmcritic.com
filmcritic.com
"If I let her take half, or a 60/40 cut, I'm not gonna be able to give her all my pimpin'!"
Such is only one of hundreds of truly great lines in AMERICAN PIMP, the rather self-explanatory documentary from the Hughes brothers (MENACE II SOCIETY, DEAD PRESIDENTS). As a documentary, PIMP displays uncommon humor, as its over-the-top subjects probably don't realize they're being mocked, preferring instead to bask in the limelight of the movie being made about them.
As expected, these guys are utter jokes, as are their "hos." Everything you may suspect about the pimp trade, as it turns out, is absolutely true. They wear gold jackets with 'gator skin shoes. They drive Rolls Royces. They treat their employees very badly, and they keep all the money.
As such, there's not a lot of insight into "pimpology," as all the stereotypes are validated. To be sure, the tales of Rosebudd, Fillmore Slim, and Too $hort (among others) are worth the price of admission for their entertainment value, but this is the same ground covered in HBO's "Pimps Up, Ho's Down" last year. (Also of note: the HBO documentary was widely trashed as being phony: Not so.)
Still, it's amazing the Hughes brothers got these stories out of these characters. Intercutting the film with classic 1930's-1990's blaxploitation films and TV shows is pure genius and offers some of the best moments in AMERICAN PIMP. Like they say, it's all Mack.
RATING: ***1/2
|------------------------------|
\ ***** Perfection \
\ **** Good, memorable film \
\ *** Average, hits and misses \
\ ** Sub-par on many levels \
\ * Unquestionably awful \
|------------------------------|
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Allen Hughes, Albert Hughes Producer: Allen Hughes, Albert Hughes, Kevin J. Messick
No web site.
--- Christopher Null - null@filmcritic.com - http://www.filmcritic.com
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