Undercover Brother
dir. D. Lee
Opens Fri May 31
Various Theater
When you’re watching the trailers for Undercover Brother, it’s hard not to say to yourself, “What exactly is this film? Is this like another Shaft remake? There better be some booty this time! Er, (head scratch) Maybe he’s like the black Austin Powers. But why do we need a black Austin Powers? I’m so sick of those movies. I got it, maybe it’s a critique on racism in America, yeah, that’s totally smart, teaching people through comedy, people love comedy. Or no, I’m wrong. I bet this film is riddled with stereotypes, another example of how stupid and racist Hollywood is. Damnit, that pisses me off.”
Well, if you’ve felt confused, that’s for a reason, because this film is all of the above. Amidst a blaxploitation throw-back film, we have a spoof on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Characters that play black film stereotypes–the Smart Brother, the Conspiracy Brother–critique black stereotyping in films. White characters say racist things Denise Richards tells Eddie Griffin (Undercover Brother) that he’s very cute “in that Theo Huxtable sort of way,” then brainwashes him with her unstoppable white pussy, and after that, can’t get enough of him because, “once you go black, never go back,” as the adage goes.
Some of the critiques, jokes, or observations are preachy, some are poignant, and some are humorous But you might notice that I have yet to tell you about the plot of the film. Well, that’s because there is no time for plot. With all the double meanings afloat, spoofs on horror films I couldn’t even place, stereotyping about whites, blacks, women, and men Well, I’ve lost interest because of too many details. There’s simply no time to explain the weird story about the black Presidential candidate being brainwashed by an organization called The Man, who is being manipulated into distributing fried chicken laced with a brain control formula to the whole of black America. I just don’t. But hey, watch 20 minutes of this film, and you’ll have topics enough to make 20 more.