RHYME & REASON
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1997 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): * 1/2
The best parts of being a movie critic are the pleasant surprises. A few months ago I went to see a documentary, called HYPE!, about the grunge movement in Seattle. As I have confessed here before, I am of the Beach Boys generation and a fervent classical and opera music buff. All of this notwithstanding, I loved HYPE! -- not for the music per se but for what it taught me about the performers and about how they approached the music business.
With risk comes the chance of failure. So it was that I went with high anticipation to see a documentary on hip hop music called RHYME & REASON. In a documentary the roles of the director and the editor are much more important than in a non-documentary film. (HYPE!'s director Doug Pray and editors Doug Pray and Joan Zapata had a deft touch in obtaining and assembling just the right interviews and live action shots.)
RHYME & REASON's director Peter Spirer and editor, whose name I did not catch, do not slow down long enough to make a movie. A long stream of people appear briefly in front of the camera. Most interviews are edited down to a few words, and the interviews are lined up in no particular order and spliced together. Confusion reigns. This approach does engender high energy albeit with a high frustration factor. Rather than enlightening, the film contents itself with skimming the surface.
Buried somewhere within RHYME & REASON are opinions worth hearing. As singer Speech says, "Hip hop is a voice for the oppressed people." Even the definitions are submerged, but can be found if you listen closely. "Rap is something that is being done," one hip hopper explains. "Hip hop is being lived." DJ Rip-One demonstrates how to make music by manually moving a record a few inches back and forth on the turntable. (Do not try this at home on your CD player. The results will not be the same.)
My two favorite parts of the show were the dancing called "breaking" by Mr. Animation, and the form of fast talking which Fat Lip said is called "free style." Free style is rap done ad lib and frequently without music. It reminded me of the old parcel service television ads where the guy talks a blue streak.
RHYME & REASON touches on some controversial subjects. "Graffiti is one of the most beautiful art forms in the world," Wise Intelligence tells us. (I am not making up any of these names.) He then goes on to liken people who deface property to Picasso.
The rampant sexism and racism in gangsta rap are excused on several fronts. First, one of the few female hip hoppers explains that the words are all okay if you say them in the right way. (I suggest you continue to avoid using the B and the N words. The chances of your saying them "right" are probably slim.) Second, Ice-T and others claim that people in ghettos are getting murdered all the time so singing about it is only natural. Third, the studios are excused by GURU who tells us that, "Rap is big business now, and they don't care about the violence." Ice-T bragged that he had six consecutive gold records without any of them being able to be played on the radio.
I am perfectly happy to give high marks to a documentary that I disagree with and to see one about a subject that I am not normally interested in, but RHYME & REASON is such a poorly made film, I can find no reason for anyone other than hip hop fans to see it. Undoubtedly, they will enjoy the music and the brief interviews.
RHYME & REASON runs 1:31. It is rated R for extremely filthy, violent, sexist, and racist language. Teenagers who like rap or hip hop will probably get a kick out of the show, but personally, I would hope than most will not go. I do not recommend the picture, and I give it * 1/2 only because the promise of the film that could have been does come through in a few memorable scenes.
**** = A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = Totally and painfully unbearable picture.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: March 3, 1997
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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