Füge eine Handlung in deiner Sprache hinzuSharp social satire in which the uneven friendship between an ambitious Black businessman and his streetwise pal is thrown into further confusion when the professional falls in love with a m... Alles lesenSharp social satire in which the uneven friendship between an ambitious Black businessman and his streetwise pal is thrown into further confusion when the professional falls in love with a mind-numbingly gorgeous waitress.Sharp social satire in which the uneven friendship between an ambitious Black businessman and his streetwise pal is thrown into further confusion when the professional falls in love with a mind-numbingly gorgeous waitress.
- Regie
- Drehbuch
- Hauptbesetzung
- Diedre
- (as Anne Marie Johnson)
- Monroe
- (as Sam Jackson)
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"Strictly Business" is a feel-good comedy about young blacks moving up the social ladder that could do solid business if audiences respond to a kinder, gentler type of picture.
Film eschews the gritty approach of recent black-themed pics for a Pollyannaish tale in which even the top white execs are portrayed as reasonable and fair-minded. Crossing class and social barriers is the issue here, not race.
The two heroes, debuting on the big screen after TV experience are handsome Joseph C. Phillips, intent on earning a partnership in a leading New York real estate firm, and streetwise Tommy Davidson, his friend in the mailroom who dreams of making the management trainee program.
Key link between the two is beautiful restaurant hostess Halle Berry, with whom Phillips is immediately infatuated. Davidson knows her from the 'hood and agrees to fix them up in return for Phillips' help at work.
Comedy comes from Phillips having to learn how to relate to Berry and other blacks since his nerdish success-oriented behavior has turned him into an insular workaholic.
Except for the forced, strictly wish-fulfillment final reel, the film is kept evenly on track by a light touch from debuting director Kevin Hooks, also a TV recruit.
Phillips displays impressive comic timing in executing some hilarious physical shtick and is complemented by the verbal savvy of stand-up comic Davidson. Anne Marie Johnson as Phillips' bossy girlfriend barks out orders during sex like a drill sergeant and earns some big laughs. Sam Jackson ("Jungle Fever") demonstrates his versatility as the mailroom boss.
Given a glamorous intro not unlike Bo Derek in "10" (complete with slow-mo torso photography), Berry is pic's revelation as a sexy and intelligent young woman. She's featured next in Warner Bros.' Christmas pic "The Last Boy Scout".
Film benefits from an infectious score by Micchel Colombier and several rap tunes by top artists like L. L. Cool J and Big Daddy Kane.
One day, opposites working in the same structure, but coming from different worlds, will have to collide, as Wayon really liked an unfamiliar beauty in the person of Halle Berry. Bobby will help Wayon find «his dream», and Wayon will help Bobby move up a few notches in business, where the term «stepping on heads» is not rude at all, but a factual reality. In general a fairly standard and classic plot twist, with some adjustments for the «street» specifics, a light melodrama, with a dash of comedy.
Actually, this very «lightness» becomes the other side of the coin - there is no high-flown dramaturgy or conventionally complex messages here, and you can't expect anything in the spirit of Spike Lee's «Jungle Fever», released in the same 1991, where Halle Berry also managed to make her mark in one of her earliest and rather atypical roles. The film also does not claim the laurels of «Wall Street» (1987). To a greater extent, there is a set of purely situational, topical sketches, strung together on a common, rather conventional plot line and placed in a not very long running time of one hour and twenty minutes, but devoid of any depth. The film is generally not bad, but does not stand out in any special way.
Tommy Davidson (In Living Color, stand-up comedian), Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction and Star Wars?), Halle Berry (some movie where she got an Oscar for some reason), Denis Leary (stand-up comedian known for his song "A..hole"), and Sam Rockwell (Galaxy Quest) get together in this not too interesting flick about business as usual.
It's simple formula works for people in their teens. It has a "70's" feel to it that makes it not worth watching. I found it interesting to see them all together before they became more famous. Halle Berry *is* adorable.
The ending is incredibly drawn out. I kept screaming in my head "END IT, PLEASE END IT!" 6/10
-Zafoid
Wusstest du schon
- WissenswertesHalle Berry and Samuel L. Jackson appeared in Jungle Fever (1991) and Losing Isaiah (1995).
- PatzerThe detail-oriented Waymon misspelled the first names of his secretary and his girlfriend on his computer's daily agenda screen.
- Zitate
Bobby Johnson: You know what, G? You are straight-up whiter than the *whitest* white man!
- SoundtracksNow's the B Turn
Performed by Laquan
Written by Laquan, Bret Mazur & Richard Wolf
Courtesy of Island Records
Top-Auswahl
- How long is Strictly Business?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box Office
- Bruttoertrag in den USA und Kanada
- 7.683.267 $
- Eröffnungswochenende in den USA und in Kanada
- 2.456.772 $
- 10. Nov. 1991
- Weltweiter Bruttoertrag
- 7.683.267 $
- Laufzeit1 Stunde 24 Minuten
- Farbe
- Seitenverhältnis
- 1.85 : 1