Beverly Hills Beauties

This film is not a big headliner but it has some awesomely funny moments. Nothing funnier than when these two girls visit their local club called The Gold Tooth and when they go in they set off the metal detectors when they smile showing their full array of gold caps. Halle Berry is Beautiful (with a capital B) and is endearing as Nisi and Natalie Desselle is 'da bomb' as the blustery best friend, Mickey. The hairstyles themselves are worth seeing this video! Mickey displays the "BOO YOW" hairstyle with aplomb. Who else would try to open a Hair Salon/Restaurant but these two women dreamers? One of my favorite flicks, I advise you to check it out.

Oddly enough, then I had actually never heard about this 1997 comedy titled "B*A*P*S" form writer Troy Byer and director Robert Townsend. I happened to stumble upon it by random chance here in 2023, and with it being a movie that I never seen, much less heard about, of course I opted to check it out.

I was rather surprised with the cast ensemble in the movie, with the likes of Halle Berry and Martin Landau on the cast list, alongside with an abundance of celebrities portraying themselves in the movie as well.

The storyline in "B*A*P*S", as written by Troy Byer, was pretty straight forward. It was actually entertaining enough for what it turned out to be and there were some funny and nice moments throughout the course of the 91 minutes that the movie ran for. It isn't, however, a movie that warrants more than a single viewing for me, as the storyline just didn't have all that much to offer.

It was nice to see Halle Berry on the screen, though I would never have imagined her playing something like the Nisi character in the movie. Martin Landau gave his usual charm to the screen and he was nicely casted for the movie. I wasn't familiar with actress Natalie Desselle Reid, but she was also quite good on the screen.

Watchable for what it was, "B*A*P*S" is a fair enough comedy good enough for a single viewing.

My rating of "B*A*P*S" lands on a five out of ten stars.

This movie, while not being a piece of cinematic masterpiece, is not nearly as bad as the rating suggests.... True, most of the characters in the film are completely predictable, but you need to look beyond the "tacky" veneer to see the true person inside. The same could be said for the movie, itself. Sure, on the surface, Nisi & Mickey are scammers from the git go, but, they've got lots of heart & soul.... And, Mr. Blakemore is not as naive or lost as you may think. He sees the beauty beneath the beauties in this film..... It's a growth experience for all involved... Learning to open up and accept people for who they are, not what they seem... Just like this movie! Shame on all of you for beating up on Townsend, Barry, Landau and the rest! Shame!!!! Give it a try.... What's the most it can cost? A few bucks?

I remember this movie was in limited release when it came out in 1997. I was able to catch it when it appeared on TMN, our movie channel up here in Canada. Being a fan of Robert Townsend, I really liked his past work like "Hollywood Shuffle" and his TV show "The Parenthood", so I knew I was going to like this flick. Though the beginning of the movie is a little on the weak side, it starts picking up to a nice pace and is entertaining.

Some reviewers were offended by the way African-Americans are portrayed in this movie, as ghetto talking and jiving boneheads. For me, I don't see it that way, I just see it as a comedy-straight up. I can see how people would be offended though, because most of the movies that came out before movies like "Waiting to Exhale" & "The Brothers" came out either portrayed the African-Americans as uneducated ghetto talking airheads, or gangsters, pimps, & drug dealers. Another thing I noticed from some of the reviews both on IMDB & other sources, is that the writers think that it has set back the clock for black actors etc. It was directed by an African-American, which I may add, never received his just props in Hollywood. In conclusion, if it makes you laugh, which the fine actors in this movie achieve whole heartedly, it's all good.

I loved B.A.P.S it was an awesome movie with a meaning. I thought of it as a Romantic Comedy. Halle Berry is one of my favorite actresses and I adore Natalie Desselle. All the other movies Halle played in they were more serious and less funny and B.A.P.S just showed one of her many talents as an actress. When I saw B.A.P.S it was the first time I had ever heard or saw Natalie Desselle and she was wonderful in this movie. This movie proved that they were really Black American Princesses. And besides I love most of Robert Townsend's movies and this was just one of them. Halle and Natalie acted those parts out like they were actually living Nisi and Nikki's lives and I thought that was just outstanding. It may not have been a big hit, but it was to me.