Bamboozled (2000)

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Load of rubbish!!

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

First off, My reviews do not go into detail about the movie or what the story is, etc. My reviews are based off of the movie goers thoughts/opinions after seeing the movie. If you want to know what the movie is about, read the synopsis. This is a true opinion review for those who are debating whether or not this movie is for them.This movie is absolutely ridiculous. It is truly one of the dumbest, most horribly written movies I have ever had the displeasure of sitting through. There are quite a few masterpieces by Spike Lee, but believe me, this ain't one of em. For this movies to have as high of a rating as it does (6.5), there has got to be some sort of biased opinions being given. Skip this. (2/10)

Bamboozled is the story of Pierre Delacroix, a Harvard educated writer who is ripped for his Cosbyesque ideas that lead to cancellation. Michael Dunwitty claiming to be "blacker than you Delacroix" and can "Say the word n*@&a, I have a black wife and have 2 biracial kids" So he goes in the opposite direction and revives a minstrel show, thinking it will be so offensive that it will be canceled. Much to his chagrin the minstrel show Delacroix puts up is actually a hit. The movie starts from there, as it is mired in controversy and has reactions from both sides of the spectrum (extreme love to extreme hate) references to black power make their way into the movie Biting satire about how America doesn't really want to see intelligent black characters on TV.

TV writer Pierre Delacroix (Damon Wayans) is tired of having his TV concepts rejected by the studio. Accused by his ultra-"hip" white boss Dunwitty (Michael Rappaport) of not being "black" enough, an enraged Pierre comes up with an outlandish idea: a modern-day minstrel show, complete with black-face, musical revue numbers, racial epithets, and the most ridiculous stereotypes imaginable. He enlists the aide of his reluctant secretary Sloane (Jada Pinkett Smith) and two street dancers Manray and Womack (Savion Glover and Tommy Davidson) desperate for a buck. Pierre is flabbergasted when the network accepts the show, and then becomes a pop culture phenomenon. But not everyone enjoys the racial epithets the show provides, and the Maumaus, a group of wannabe gangstas/rappers, decide to take matters into their own hands - with tragic results.Spike Lee's "Bamboozled" is certainly an ambitious film. It is an unremittingly vicious satire of the portrayal of blacks in popular media, a topic all too open to attack from Lee's inflammatory eye. However, having set up a potentially great and scathing satire, Bamboozled ultimately fails by being just too broad and over-the-top in its target.Lee is certainly right in attacking media portrayal of African-Americans. And for the early sections, it works. The most effective is the portrayal of pop culture - namely gangsta rap and hip-hop. The Maumaus are ridiculous posers who don't even notice that one of their number is white. The TV ads for Blow Cola and Timmi Hiln!gger showcase the artificiality and toxic nature of gangsta culture. Women are hos, bitches, and sluts; the men are cool because they do drugs and kill people. Lee's double-edged sword goes after the white media (embodied by the embarrassingly patronizing boss Dunwitty) for perpetuating such images, but also the blacks who embrace it. Very few societal targets, regardless of race or position, escape Lee's critical eye. The film's use of clips from minstrel shows of the past, as well as cartoons and other caricature portrayals, as well as the commentary of Sloane, to make the point reverberate. All of this is brilliantly done, and the witty dialog and character interactions of the first half indicate that Lee has winner on his hands.But the film ultimately fails due to the methods it employs. Seriously... is there a sentient human being alive who thinks that there would be a TV audience for a MINSTREL SHOW? Black face is such an inherently, blatantly offensive concept that it's impossible to take it seriously. For lack of a better word, it's overkill. And by showing it again and again, Lee rather overdoes (and undermines) his point. We get it; this show is racist and humiliating. Wouldn't Lee have better made his point by keeping the focus on the contemporary equivalent, or at least gone about it in a more subtle manner? Of course, "Bamboozled" is a satire, so hyperbole is expected. But, there are limits to this, particularly within the media of film. Be too outlandish and over-the-top, and the point is lost. Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" works because it is a written essay, where the venom beneath Swift's seemingly earnest tone is almost undetectable. In "Bamboozled", however, we see starkly outrageous images of minstrel shows about black-faced, watermelon-eating, chicken-stealing blacks (and the black-faced fans who love and emulate them). And that image in and of itself blots out the point Lee is trying to make with such images. We don't remember that the media is demeaning towards blacks; we remember the minstrel show.The movie is also damaged by its cop-out ending, which uses violence as an easy solution to the problems it has set up. One could argue that Lee was attempting to show the detrimental effects Delacroix's show had on society. Thanks, but I'm not buying that. Whatever justice that argument has is killed by the ham-fisted, rushed way the climax is executed.The acting is uniformly solid. Damon Wayans, an actor I usually dislike, makes Pierre an intriguing character. Pierre's descent into hell - ultimately embracing the stereotypes he presents through his work - is fascinating. Jada Pinkett-Smith gives a quietly effective performance as the film's conscience, although her actions at the end seem ridiculously out-of-character. Savion Glover and Tommy Davidson are both extremely likable as two characters who slowly realize what they're doing is wrong. Michael Rappaport's hopeless studio VP is hysterical, and provides some of the film's best moments.In short, "Bamboozled" is an extremely ambitious film that starts out great, then becomes so outlandish and over-the-top its point is obscured. Regardless, one should note it is very much a point worth making.6/10

Spike Lee is quite open about it - he talks about it on the DVD commentary track.The first major influence (or source) in making this film is Budd Schulberg, the man the film is dedicated to. Budd Schulberg is the son of the former head of Paramount Pictures back in the Golden Age. He wrote the screenplay for "A Face in the Crowd," which attacks TV, and the first great Hollywood novel, "What Makes Sammy Run?," about a climber who sells out his own people in exchange for success in showbiz (Pierre Delacroix wasn't the first and won't be the last). Secondly, there's ample tribute paid to Paddy Chayefsky's screenplay for "Network," the most famous film expose of TV news. Thirdly, there's Mel Brooks' farce "The Producers," which rips the bark off of Broadway.So, the acknowledged pre-existing sources for Mr. Lee's screenplay are Schulberg, Chayefsky and Brooks, all of whom happen to be Jewish. It's nice Mr. Lee has such good taste in choosing his inspiration.However, on screen it's another matter. There are two Jewish characters, Pierre's boss, who is a loutish, insensitive jerk, and an annoying, unsympathetic PR consultant, who is styled to look like Monica Lewinsky. That's all we get; there are no positive Jewish characters to provide contrast to these two.So after having paid tribute to three Jewish writers, Spike Lee then gives us crude racist stereotypes on screen, and not for the first time.If the point of the film, as he says, is to get us out of the box of racism, why can't he get past it in depicting Jewish characters? We hear about how Spike Lee has grown over the years, but how are Thomas Dunwitty and Myrna Goldfarb better than the Flatbush Brothers in "Mo' Better Blues?" If this is an improvement, thanks for nothing.Either you're against ethnic stereotyping or you're not. This industry has given Spike Lee the green light to do what he wants for over 20 years, but apparently, when it comes to vicious caricature, He's Gotta Have It.