Pootie Tang

And so does my wife, a middle-aged hispanic girl. Just in case anyone thought this movie might only appeal to hip, young, black kids.

Heck, even my 70-year-old mother liked it! But she likes anything with Chris Rock in it.

Obviously, this is one of those movies where you have to "get it", but for those who do, it totally rocks! This movie works on so many levels. I loved the message, I loved the characters, and the movie is just hilarious.

I never outright recommend this movie to anyone, as it's too unpredictable. I say, see the previews - if you see anything there you like, chances are you'll love the movie. It's definitely worth checking out.

Pootie Tang actually can be looked at as a parable, an allegory of a messianic figure. How's that for making a purse out of a sow's ear? Consider: A powerful figure roaming around doing good deeds, speaking in a puzzling language that only believers understand, attended to by his apostles, befriending prostitutes. Suffering from inner demons he retreats to the wilderness (the farm) and experiences an epiphany through the physical manifestation of his creators, going back and finally confronting and conquering the demons. (Dirty D = Dirty Devil)Along the way he even awakens the dead (the knife wielder at the club), banishes a horde of false prophets (all the fake Pooties), and can bring people to rapture through sheer silence alone. Whew. Heady stuff. Sa Da Tay!

This movie is so unique, it may be as difficult for some to understand as it is to figure out Pootie's language. I was captivated from the first scene right up to the end. Kudos to Lance Crouther for his truly inspired performance as the hero. His physical comedy while combatting his foes or even just interacting with everyone else was brilliant and quirky. You really find yourself focusing on him in every scene, just to see what he was going to do next. There is also the ensemble of actors that inhabit Pootie's world, all of whom did a great job. I often read critics making comparisons between the modern charactor actors and how they pale before those of the distant past - razzz - wrong! These people hammed it up with style and flair. "I'm Dirty Dee, dammit!"

Sah da tay, my brothers.

I'm not saying that Pootie Tang will be for everyone, but for those interested, it is really a gas. Pootie Tang was originated on Chris Rock's HBO show with Crouther playing Tang as the new president elect Pootie Tang telling his campaign in lingo that almost no one could understand but it was still dead pan. Now, he has a movie.

Lance Crouther plays the title character in a short yet entertaining movie about a hero with a belt that helps him against the forces of evil, plus his gift of saying things that have no meaning whatsoever (like ebonics mixed with down syndrome, but it's funny). Chris Rock (in 3 equally hilarious roles), Robert Vaughn and Wanda Sykes also star in this movie with it's only damaging flaw being that after a while it runs out of steam. Worth a look. B+

It's criminal, how underrated this movie is. It's inspired on so many levels, and the encyclopedic knowledge of action films, hip-hop videos, 70s blaxploitation and chop-socky movies is breathtaking. I always think of it in the same class as THE JERK and ZOOLANDER, with a healthy respect for flat-out absurdity and non-stop gags. The filming style is rough, and the actors generally have no polish (an undoubtedly deliberate choice), which makes the sudden flashes of precision so devastatingly funny. Wanda Sykes, in particular, is absolute gold as party girl Biggie Shorty, but the film's full of co-stars - Andy Richter, Dave Attell, Jennifer Coolidge, J.D. Williams, Missy Elliott, and Robert Vaughan - who get their turn on the silliness carousel. I can imagine someone who isn't a fan, or at least an observer, of the above things would hate this movie like poison, but for me, who has seen more Jay-Z videos than I ever wanted to see and who can't help laughing when I see a man use kung-fu to bounce bullets off his hair (a gag too complicated to explain, but seamless on screen), POOTIE TANG is fantastic.

I'd recommend it more, but it's just too hard to describe!