Undercover Brother

Directed by Malcolm D. Lee

Starring Eddie Griffin, Chris Kattan, Denise Richards, Aunjanue Ellis and Dave Chappelle

Rated PG-13 for language, sexual humor, drug content and campy violence.

The comedic genre of film has basically turned into spoofs of other genres. Almost every single popular comedy these days is more self-mocking of a genre than a real original comedy. Which is fine, because some films like this turn out to be good, for example Austin Powers. But for every good one, there is one like Scary Movie or Not Another Teen Movie. Thankfully though, this film, Undercover Brother is a very well done spoof. Doing for the 70’s blacksploitation (I don’t like this term, but its easy to understand so that’s why I’m using it) film what Austin Powers did for the James Bond series, Undercover Brother is able to be a very funny film that really plays well on the clichés of its original genre.

The only thing of note that Malcolm D. Lee does as director is be Spike Lee’s cousin. This is not to say he did a bad job in directing the film, but he certainly wasn’t trying to make this into an artistic piece. So rather than talk about him, I’m going to focus more on the screenwriter John Ridley (wrote the story for the movie Three Kings as well as writing for the television programs The John Larroquette Show,

Watch out whities, here comes Undercover Brother!

Martin, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air). Now I am not truly an expert on the blacksploitation films of the 70’s, but I did see Dolemite and I kind of know what this so called genre is all about. So while I am not sure if Ridley is using a lot of direct references to these films, like how the Austin Powers films make direct references to Bond films, I do know that he is clearly playing on the clichés often employed in these films. And quite successfully I must say. This film does a much better job spoofing the blacksploitation genre than does Keenan Ivory Wayans’ I’m Gonna Git You Sucka. This one takes the stereotypes of the genre to really funny and sometimes outlandish levels, rather than being silly and stupid like Wayans’ film. Ridley creates some incredibly funny lines and is able to create a film that seems more similar to the genre he is spoofing than did the Wayans film. The jokes are played at the expense of everyone. Ridley is mocking of both white character and black characters, which allows the audience not only to enjoy the jokes about themselves, but about those on other people as well.

The performances given in this film are really rather good. Eddie Griffin really plays the role of Undercover Brother quite well, making up for his lackluster, yet brief appearance in The New Guy. He plays the role well without having to try to overemphasize the things that will become the jokes, which can happen on occasion in comedy. Chris

Chick fights and fros, this movie has got it all

Kattan isn’t nearly as annoying as he most likely was in Corky Romano, although he did have some real spastic moments that are typical of his other work. The supporting cast really is good. Dave Chappelle has a lot of really funny lines as Conspiracy Brother and Gary Anthony Williams (Stevie’s dad on Malcolm In The Middle) is also very good as Smart Brother. Chi McBride is generally pretty good, but the times when he just randomly starts yelling at people are really bizarre. Aunjanue Ellis and Denise Richards aren’t as good as some of the other players, but they do have their moments. Billy Dee Williams has a rather small role, but his part is really one of the best in the film. I don’t want to ruin it, but when it comes to it, you’ll know what I’m talking about. And as always, it’s nice to see TV’s Doogie Howser, Neil Patrick Harris.

While this movie certainly isn’t up to the level of comedies like The Royal Tenenbaums or Monsters Inc. it is still rather amusing. If you are a really big fan of spoofs, than you will enjoy this movie, because it is certainly one of the best spoofs in a long while. And if you can’t wait until July for the new Austin Powers movie, this will certainly calm your appetite for the next few weeks. It’s always nice to see a comedy that didn’t have all of its jokes given away in the trailer because there just weren’t enough truly funny moment in the film. Undercover Brother, which is based on an internet cartoon, proves not only that spoofs don’t have to be horribly bad, but that some things from the internet can be successful in the real world. (Note: Also look for Danny Glover in the film, you will really enjoy his appearance.)

RATING: 57%