Undercover Brother (2002)

Undercover Brother: Directed by Malcolm D. Lee. With Eddie Griffin, Chris Kattan, Denise Richards, Aunjanue Ellis. When “The Man” tries to derail a black candidate’s presidential campaign, Undercover Brother and his fellow secret agents come to the rescue.

“If you find u0026#39;Family Guyu0026#39;, u0026#39;Married … with Childrenu0026#39; or even u0026#39;The Simpsonsu0026#39; to be in bad taste, you may want to avoid this movie. If you found u0026#39;Good Timesu0026#39; and u0026#39;Whatu0026#39;s Happening!u0026#39; to be stereotypical and buffoonish, you probably wonu0026#39;t like this movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIf you are still reading …u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAccording to this movie, African Americans have made numerous advances as a result of the Civil Rights movement. But a powerful Caucasian male known as u0026#39;The Manu0026#39;, whose face we never see, wants to put black people back in their place.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhich is why the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. must stop him.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIf there was such a person as u0026#39;The Manu0026#39;, he could have written this movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eEddie Griffin did quite a good job in what were essentially two roles. Most of the time, he had the giant afro and the cool clothes and the classic Cadillac pumping out funky 70s music as he represented everything good (or bad, depending on your view) about the u0026#39;blaxploitiationu0026#39; genre. And he worked undercover as Anton Jackson wearing a suit and acting more white than I do. A very good contrast, showing a lot of acting skill.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBilly Dee Williams nailed the potential presidential candidate obviously based on Colin Powell, who was acting very strange for some reason. Not quite stereotypical, because he was always dignified–but shouldnu0026#39;t have been. His advertising campaign was hilarious!u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDenise Richards and Aunjanue Ellis also gave good performances as the two female partners of Undercover Brother–one when he was black, and one when he was undercover.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eChi McBride and Gary Anthony Williams were very funny as two of Undercover Brotheru0026#39;s associates. And Dave Chappelle was very stereotypical, very racist, but very funny–it was just satire, after all. Neil Patrick Harris did quite a good job as the organizationu0026#39;s token white. And letu0026#39;s not forget the one associate of u0026#39;The Manu0026#39; who seemed to want to be black and even acted black at times. That must have been Chris Kattan.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWith all these talented actors, there were of course very clever writers to make the material so hilarious. It takes real talent to produce satire as opposed to just being mean-spirited.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe music was good too, for this type of movie. I personally would like to have heard Jay-Z do Lawrence Welk. Or maybe not. Todayu0026#39;s artists donu0026#39;t often sound as good as, say, Rod Stewart. Iu0026#39;m not hopeless, though. I canu0026#39;t stand Michael Bolton or Celine Dion or, even though he wasnu0026#39;t mentioned but could have been, Kenny G. For some reason I do like u0026#39;Jungle Boogieu0026#39; by Kool and the Gang.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI highly recommend this movie for fans of satire.”