Pootie Tang (2001)

Pootie Tang: Directed by Louis C.K.. With Lance Crouther, J.B. Smoove, Jennifer Coolidge, Reg E. Cathey. “The Man” is baffled by a chill hero’s invincible weapon: gibberish.

“For those of you put off by the comments below, of which a large percentage are rather negative, well donu0026#39;t go see it. If some of teh good revies below donu0026#39;t make you want to see it either, donu0026#39;t go see it. Iu0026#39;m not surprised Pootie Tang isnu0026#39;t a big hit, but donu0026#39;t expect it to fall off the face of the earth. It probably will, for about ten years, but then itu0026#39;ll be back.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMy rationale behind this is that this movie is shades, more than just shades, itu0026#39;s practically a sequel, of the ridiculous Rudy Ray Moore movies of the seventies, including Dolemite and Disco Godfather. In the former, Moore played Dolemite, a successful standup comic (Created in his own standup act) who is also a pimp and crimefighter in his spare time. Pootie Tang is a character created by Louis C.K. with actor Lance Crother, who is a successful hip hop artist, who is also a ladies man and a crimefighter in his spare time. See what Iu0026#39;m talking about?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere are more similarities. Each film is low budget, and often quite amateurish. Both films are made by people who obviously donu0026#39;t have all the mechanics of filmmaking down (Dolemiteu0026#39;s boom mike pops into shots so much it might as well have gotten a supporting cast credit, Pootie Tang features possibly THE WORST narration in the history of film). Both also have quite a bit of social satire, plus additional humor derived from the sheer stupidity of the filmmaking.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003ePootie Tang is, in itself, a bad idea for a movie. Who wants to watch 80 minutes of a character who speaks in gibberish? Itu0026#39;s a joke thatu0026#39;s funny for 3 minutes on the Chris Rock Show, but grows very old after an hour and a half (The audience I was with was hysterical…for ten minutes. Eventually half walked out). There are some jokes that work (I liked Pootieu0026#39;s new hit single, and also the tense climactic standoff between Pootie and Dirty) but a lot of other material doesnu0026#39;t (Cameos by Andy Ricter and David Cross are totally wasted). Plus the movie doesnu0026#39;t know if itu0026#39;s a movie, a movie clip, a friend retelling something, or what. It has a bad sense of pacing and flow (Using little Batman-esque cut scenes to break stuff up) and at least a dozen head-scratch-inducing moments.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFor all of these reasons, the movie will be back. Mark my words. People a decade from now will watch this movie and laugh at its lame bits, and also the smart ones. For the average viewer, itu0026#39;s not worth seeing. For the devoted follower of movies that are bizarre, inexplicable, and just plain silly, it might be the best out-there movie of the year.”