'3BlackChicks Review...'
HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE (1987) Rated R; running time 81 minutes Genre: Comedy IMDB site: http://us.imdb.com/Details?0093200 Written by: Robert Townsend, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Dom Irrera Directed by: Robert Townsend Cast: Robert Townsend, Anne-Marie Johnson, Craigus R. Johnson, Helen Martin, Brad Sanders, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Ludie Washington, Eugene R. Glazer, Lisa Mende, Dom Irrera, Sena Ayn Black, Grand L. Bush, Roy Fegan, David McKnight, Nancy Cheryll Davis, Damon Wayans, Richard Cummings Jr.
Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2001 Review URL: http://www.3blackchicks.com/bamshshuffle.html
Want to know what drives me to do my job as an entertainment critic? [Trust me: it ain't the money]. Well, you've come to the right place. If WILD WILD WEST was the impetus for me to co-found 3BlackChicks Review with my partner The Diva, then for me, HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE is the inspiration that keeps me going on.
The Story (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**): HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE, a self-financed, semi-autobiographical film by writer and director Robert Townsend, tells the story of Bobby Taylor (Townsend), an inspiring actor struggling to make it in show business while maintaining his dignity and self-respect. This is hard to do, as he's surrounded by crab-in-a-barrel coworkers (Keenen Ivory Wayans, Ludie Washington) to the left of him, and exploitative idiot TV executives (Eugene R. Glazer, Lisa Mende, Dom Irrera), to the right. Bobby is stuck in the middle with a strong support system, including girlfriend Lydia (Anne-Marie Johnson), younger brother Stevie (Craigus R. Johnson), their grandmother (the late Helen Martin) - and a healthy imagination. One in which he sees himself not as a jive talkin' knucklehead or a thug, as the rest of Hollywood sees him - but as a film noir detective, or Shakespearean thesp, or action hero. You know: just like any old actor.
The Upshot: I have a lot of love in my heart for this film, on so many levels. I admire Robert Townsend for having the fortitude to do the film in the first place, mostly on his own dime, enlisting a huge group of fellow actors, comedians, and other struggling artists, to help him make HS a reality (listing them all here would take way too much space; I encourage you to check out the IMDB listing for complete cast credits). I remember watching interviews in which he talked about financing HS on maxed-out credit cards - back in the days when that kind of thing was fairly rare - and thought it was the coolest thing in the world to believe in something so strongly that you would put yourself in potential debt to keep it going. That lesson wasn't been lost on me, to this day.
But mostly, I love HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE because, even after 14 years, and a bit of progress on the Black Folk In Hollywood front, I find it still relevant; and more importantly, still *funny*. As with another old favorite of mine, BLAZING SADDLES, there are certain lines that never fail to Take Me Back as soon as I hear them:
-"He killeded my brutha! I *loveded* my brutha!" -"I'm making Winky Dinky Dog hoecakes...'cause hoes gotta eat, too!" -"We need you to be a little more 'Black'. You know: stick your ass out, buck your eyes...you know how they do."
But Townsend and his writers don't rely on one-liners to carry the day, no sirree; intermixed with the "serious" moral theme that drives the story, Townsend sprinkled daydream sketches throughout HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE, skits in which castmembers played various multiple parts. I compare these rough skits to SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE when it was still funny, or MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS...N' The Hood.
Townsend, who polished up some of the sketches from this film and used them in his series of skit comedy specials on HBO [who could forget "The Bold, The Black, and The Beautiful"? Not me!], successfully collaborated with Keenen Ivory Wayans on those specials as well as in this movie. I want to point out two sketches in particular: "Noir Detective", which leads to the funniest bit I've ever seen this particular Wayans brother do, in the person of Jerry Curl Johnson; and obviously, "Speed & Tyrone: Sneakin' In The Movies". Once you see the latter skit, you'll have a taste of 3BC Flava.
HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE isn't the kind of movie everyone will Get; if it seems dated, I think that's because some people are convinced that We *Have* Overcome, and should Get On With It. I'm not quite there yet. From the looks of things, We've just traded jive talkin' superfly pimps and hoes, for trash talkin' gangstas and babymamas. Yeah, progress.
The "Black Factor" [ObDisclaimer: We Are Not A Monolith]:
The Black Factor is abundantly clear throughout HS; let's go for the White Factor instead.
I won't waste my time here browbeating well-meaning Whites into submission. I won't pile more guilt onto those fatcat con men who are part of the Power Structure Oppressing Black Hollywood, or wonder why so many of those Blaxploitation TV shows had Jewish writers. And while I"m not doing stuff, I won't I take to task those House Kneegrows who continue to stick out their ass and buck their eyes for a non-feeling, non-thinking Electronic Massa. No, my sole purpose here is to wonder exactly how lost some White Folk will be, hearing strange concepts like "jheri curl", "light-skinned Blacks don't make good crooks" (and its natural extension, the "paperbag test"), "crabs-in-a-barrel", and such.
On the real, it brings to mind a heartfelt email one of my readers sent, asking me if I thought Spike Lee was at all concerned with whether White viewers will understand the message in his movies. Hell, Robert Townsend isn't seen as an Angry Black Man to those who might make such references - and I wonder if White viewers will understand *Townsend's* message any better.
I'd make it easier by providing a "Bammer's Blactionary" here, but I've long since retired that twist, sorry. I think ya betta ask somebody.
Bammer's Bottom Line: I've been grumbling for awhile now that I couldn't find HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE on DVD at Netflix; but I just did a cursory search and it's there (I screened a VHS version). Now that I know that it can be purchased, Amazon here I come!
HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE (rating: greenlight): My new goal is to catch up to Robert Townsend, and shake his hand. After all, he's partially responsible for "3BlackChicks Review"; and one of these days, I plan on telling him so.
Rose "Bams" Cooper Webchick and Editor, 3BlackChicks Review Entertainment Reviews With Flava! Copyright Rose Cooper, 2001 EMAIL: bams@3blackchicks.com http://www.3blackchicks.com/
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