This is basically sloppy, all-over-the-map filmmaking with few hints of self-criticism and few genuine laughs.
Bamboozled (2000)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 93
Fresh: 44
Rotten:49
Average Rating: 5.4/10
Consensus: Bamboozled is too heavy-handed in its satire and comes across as more messy and overwrought than biting.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] strong language and some violence
Runtime: 2 hrs 18 mins
Genre: Television
Theatrical Release: Oct 6, 2000 Limited
Box Office: $1,883,628
Synopsis: Spike Lee turns up the controversy notch once again with BAMBOOZLED, a sizzling satire on race and racism within the modern media world. Harvard-educated writer Pierre Delacroix (Damon Wayans), the only black employee on the staff of a... Spike Lee turns up the controversy notch once again with BAMBOOZLED, a sizzling satire on race and racism within the modern media world. Harvard-educated writer Pierre Delacroix (Damon Wayans), the only black employee on the staff of a struggling television network, suggests the most absurd idea for a pilot that he can possibly imagine, hoping it will convince his tyrannical boss, Dunwitty (Michael Rapaport), to terminate his contract and fire him. However, his plan backfires and his idea--MANTAN THE NEW MILLENNIUM MINSTREL SHOW--finds great success. The show is a stereotypical and racially charged depiction of the tap-dancing Mantan (Savion Glover) and Sleep 'n' Eat (Tommy Davidson), two lazy, homeless black men who spend their days in a watermelon patch. As the show becomes a national sensation, Delacroix, his assistant Sloan Hopkins (Jada Pinkett), as well as her older brother, aspiring rapper Big Black Af' (Mos Def), begin to see the harm the show is causing the community, triggering outbursts with deadly consequences. Shot on digital video, Lee uses his basic premise to mock and accuse today's entertainers (including Chris Rock, Ving Rhames, gangsta rappers, and Lee himself) for being modern reincarnations of the stereotypical caricatures that were so offensive in the past. The result is a biting commentary that is at turns hysterical, absurd, and poignant. [More]
Starring: Damon Wayans, Savion Glover, Michael Rapaport, Tommy Davidson
Starring: Damon Wayans, Savion Glover, Michael Rapaport, Tommy Davidson, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mos Def
Director: Spike Lee
Director: Spike Lee
Producer: Jon Kilik
Composer: Terence Blanchard
Studio: New Line Cinema
DVD Info
Reviews for Bamboozled
Spike Lee’s shotgun attack on the treatment of blacks in television and the blurring of image and identity is a brilliant rant that digresses into repetitive sermonizing.
A particularly painful mess, because it begins so well and has such promise.
If Mr. Lee meant to bring back blackface entertainment as a metaphor for the current black performers he finds obnoxious, he has miscalculated.
...where most of us in his audience will lean forward to hear a whisper, we turn away from a shout. Oh, how Bamboozled shouts.
The director's new masterpiece is a summation of nearly everything he has learned as a filmmaker, and about black culture, but he doesn't feel the need to beat the audience over the head for each lesson he's trying to impart.
Lee's basing the movie in satire was a smart move because in it he can push the envelope harder than drama or straight comedy would have allowed.
He hammers his point home until the viewer is emotionally beaten into submission and manipulated into a consenting stance.
Spike Lee has made one of the few films in the year 2000 that is actually about something, and for that he deserves great credit.
Extremely heavy-handed satire from director Spike Lee -- disturbing and thought-provoking but ultimately lacking a sense of focus.
Empty-headed and unspeakably undisciplined… [the] question bears asking: Has Spike Lee -- the living, breathing antithesis of subtlety -- gone completely insane?
It is an inspired but difficult film that poses many questions and takes almost everyone to task, yet offers few suggestions as to what is to be done with this infamous legacy.
By relaxing and opening up his approach just a little he could have said much more.
Beyond the strong acting, there’s a lack of focus about the Delacroix character.
Yes, Bamboozled is a picture of genuine importance. Yes, it is also crude, unstable and hazardous.
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