Amos & Andrew

1993
PG-13
1h 36m

IMDb RATING

5.7/10

10K

YOUR RATING

Nicolas Cage and Samuel L. Jackson in Amos & Andrew (1993)

Home Video Trailer from Columbia Pictures

Play trailer0:29

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18 Photos

Satire Comedy Crime

A Pulitzer-Prize-winner author buys a cabin. The neighbors get suspicious when a strange Black man "breaks in" and call the police, who shoot at him. The sheriff tries a cover-up involving a... Read allA Pulitzer-Prize-winner author buys a cabin. The neighbors get suspicious when a strange Black man "breaks in" and call the police, who shoot at him. The sheriff tries a cover-up involving a white petty crook. Bad idea.A Pulitzer-Prize-winner author buys a cabin. The neighbors get suspicious when a strange Black man "breaks in" and call the police, who shoot at him. The sheriff tries a cover-up involving a white petty crook. Bad idea.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.7/10

10K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Videos1

Trailer 0:29

Amos & Andrew

Photos18

+ 12

User reviews38

5.710.2K

Featured reviews

8Jdidalot

I won't spoil the plot for you (too many people already have).

One on those rare DVD I've purchased and watch when I need to relax and have a laugh. Nic Cage is amazing in it and Jackson is as versatile as always. I can't help smiling watching Dabney Coleman (remembering him as Merle Jeeter in the Mary Hartman sitcom). I just love this movie. It's just clean fun and daring to show on screen the preconceived and non-politically correct concepts that some people have. I had this movie in a VHS format and could not help getting it in a DVD format. This is a comedy classic that you should purchase just to be able to watch it when you feel like it. So get some popcorn, get the family and friends around the screen and have a good time.

8AnonII

One of the most underrated, overlooked comedies of the 1990s

One of the most underrated, overlooked comedies of the 1990s, and a social satire that DOES work, Maltin's faulty opinion to the contrary. Cage is brilliant, as is Bob Balaban. Writer/director E. Max Frye deserved much better reception for this sharp, smart piece of work. Unfortunately, the film's ending was apparently re-worked, to the satisfaction of almost no one on the creative team.

Coincidentally, the angry mob torch scene in this movie was shot practically the same time the 'Rodney King' riots unfolded 3000 miles away in LA.

ajdagreat

"In an election year?"

Hated by some critics, ignored by the movie-viewing public, "Amos and Andrew" is a very underrated movie with a message.

First of all, this film has great performances from the whole cast. Nicholas Cage, Samuel L. Jackson, Dabney Coleman, all of them were hilarious in this movie. Even the supporting cast (especially Bob Balaban) were hilarious. If you want to see Samuel L. Jackson actually act instead of just being some cop or criminal advocating senseless violence, see this movie. Second of all, the script was great; I loved all the twists and turns that the plot took. It's part of what made this movie so funny. I also enjoyed the political satire in Dabney Coleman's character. Finally, the movie contains an important message. It speaks out against racism. Even without the segregation which Martin Luther King, Jr. fought against, society is not colorblind, and that point is exhibited well in this movie.

Don't believe the IMDB vote rating or the high-and-mighty movie critics. Believe me. This is an excellent piece of filmmaking.

MovieAlien

Not as bad as it was made out to be.

Clumsily written, the quasi-buddy comedy of mistaken identity stars Samuel L. Jackson as a racist writer on a posh Massachusetts island who is mistaken for being a burglar. After dodging a shower of police gunfire at his house everyone finds out that he is the person living there. Rather than face internal affairs, the cops let a car thief (Nicholas Cage) out of jail to go in the home with a shotgun and act as the `burglar'. (So the `break-in' looks fatal, for obvious reasons.)

Michael Lerner was hilarious as the hypocritical former lawyer of the Chicago 7. Giancarlo Esposito was realistic as the Louis Farrakhan-like fundamentalist. If the police weren't so unfunny (and other parts were written more cannily) it all would have been much better.

Pierrot-10

Wittily funny

Although the main focus here is undoubtedly on comedy, what makes it all the more successful is the underlying (highly unflattering) portrait of suburban America, often flirting with caricature yet not altogether devoid of subtlety; it avoids in particular the Black/White manicheanism often present even in more "serious" cinematic depictions of racism. Jackson and Cage are as usual wonderful actors, and the supporting cast does a pretty good job too at impersonating a variety of morons and other petty opportunists.

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
In the movie Samuel L. Jackson pleads to Nicholas Cage to NEVER call them "Amos & Andrew". He doesn't explain it in the movie, but in the history of American popular culture, no program was both as popular and controversial as the Amos 'n' Andy show. The series, which ran on radio from 1928 to 1960, is perhaps the most popular radio series of all time. Although the show was extremely popular, many African American groups, led by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), charged that the characters were racist caricatures and demeaning to the black community. Complaints about its content eventually led to the cancellation of the radio series and the removal of the TV show from syndication. Amos 'n' Andy is now most remembered for perpetuating the stereotypes of black entertainment. The Amos and Andy show also constitutes a prime example of the limited opportunities faced by black entertainers during the first half of the twentieth century. The title of this movie is a dead give away that the satirical story is a reference to this history of black entertainment.

Goofs
Lenses in the Chief of Police's glasses during his interview after escaping from the house.

Quotes
Amos Odell: Oh, yeah? What about you? You think the whole world is against you because you're black. Something don't go your way, it's because you're black. They're out of beer at the supermarket, it's because you're black. It rains and you get wet, it's because you're a black man. You saw for yourself there ain't no conspiracy here, no plot to get you off the island, nobody trying to assassinate you. That's all just as crazy thinking that everybody with black skin is your brother.
Andrew Sterling: What do you know about Black skin?
Amos Odell: I know for all your talk, you're about the whitest damn Black man I ever met.

Crazy credits
After the credits, there is a scene of Bloodhound Bob and all the dogs chasing each other.

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: Mad Dog and Glory/El Mariachi/Rich in Love/The Last Days of Chez Nous (1993)

Soundtracks
Beyond the Sea
(La Mer)
Music by Charles Trenet
French lyrics by Charles Trenet
English lyrics by Jack Lawrence
Performed by Bobby Darin
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products