Drop Squad

Although a little heavy handed at times with the central theme, "Drop Squad" is an excellent movie. The characters are developed in a way that uses stereotypes to highlight major issues in the black community with identity and the moral responsibility of its members. It is a well directed film and well worth watching.

My only strong criticism of this film is that it requires an active viewer. It is doing a lot and sends a lot of messages. Minor characters are not explained more than brief sound bites and quick flashes on the screen. You have to make an effort to keep up and if you don't pay attention to the details you are going to get lost. I wish the director had spent a little more time developing these characters, especially since it is clear that they are meant to represent elements of the community he means to and does criticize. If the characters were important enough to recap at the end, then they were important enough to explain in the first place.

In Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin In The Sun", the character of Beneatha describes so-called "assimilationist negroes", or black men that have immersed themselves in a dominant culture while neglecting their African roots. Suffice it to say that this description can be applied to Bruford Jamison, the lead character of David Clark Johnson's "DROP Squad". Here's a movie that takes a provocative, timely idea, and completely buries it with muddled execution.

Eriq La Salle ("ER"'s Dr. Benton) plays Bruford, an advertising executive determined to ascend up the corporate ladder. This involves demeaning advertising campaigns, including a satirical television spot for fried chicken that boasts a gospel choir, napkins with bible verses, and Spike Lee, who's also executive producer of this film. Along the way, he manages to ignore his cousin, Flip, who's out of work and incessantly asking for a favor from his favorite cousin.

These factors prompt Bruford's sister Lenora to call on the DROP (Deprogramming and Restoration of Pride) Squad, a group of militant brothers who work to bring "fallen" blacks back down to earth. The squad, whose past targets include a politician and man of the cloth, kidnap Bruford, strap him to a chair, and proceed to torture him for several weeks.

And it's at this point that the film's message is lost completely. There were moments that had punch; in particular, the friction between Bruford and squad member Garvey, played with ferocity by Ving Rhames. There's one brutal exchange when Bruford chides Garvey for not being able to make it in the real world that nearly rises above everything else onscreen. But all the while, as Bruford is being verbally and physically assaulted by the squad, it's disturbing that his civil rights never come into the equation. And since when did this kind of violence ever become productive, given their cause?

All in all, a movie with a topic more deserving of stronger execution.

I did not know what to expect until I watched this movie for at least a half hour. At first glance it appeared to be a black exploitation movie with a political message of 1970's, with gong-ho mercenaries. Later I realized that the storyline and the underlying message of the film was the same and served as the idea of the more recently filmed Eddie Griffin's comedic version titled "Undercover Brother." This original film was a sad attempt to boost African American pride and its culture with a very bad taste coming out of Hollywood. The movie is demeaning, sarcastic, and disrespectful toward the African American community. It manages to high lite the negative habits and traits prevalent in low income communities, which does not speak highly of the writer(s) and director(s), and their focus while making this low value production. Fortunately, Eddie Griffin was able to put a much better spin on this story and made an enjoyable comedy, as opposed to the original movie's sad attempt.

What's the lesson the film makers are trying to get across? 1. If a black man tries to succeed, he is betraying his roots. 2. All white people are bumbling dunderheads with no sense of rhythm or street savvy. 3. All white people are racist whether they realize it or not.

This is the most thick headed racist film I've ever seen and the only reason it hasn't been labelled as racist by the press is that it's anti-white and many people are afraid to label that racist. Racist is racist, whether anti-black or anti-white and films like this only encourage ignorance.

In a Black community, the Deprogramming and Restoration Of Pride Squad is kidnapping Black folks who have forgotten their Black culture, and restoring their Blackness to them. Everyone's on board with the kidnapping, although there is some argument about the deprogramming. Some want to use persuasion and the love of their family. Others want to beat the **** out of them.

It has a good cast, including Eriq La Salle, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Ving Rhames, and Vanessa Williams. It's produced by Spike Lee, which may make you think you're going to get one of his offensive-to-all satires, like CHI-RAQ or BAMBOOZLED; instead, the rough stuff is limited to one of the to-be-programmed characters who has gone to work for the advertising industry, creating commercials for advertiser Spike Lee that hit every stereotypical button. Instead, it examines the conflicts within the community that lead to a rising tide of violence in far more sober terms.