Whiteboys

Being from Iowa, I am usually offended by stereotypical portrayals of Iowans as dumb farmers, oblivious to the real world. That said, I really liked this movie. Part of it is the fun of seeing familiar places and landmarks (bridges, bars, cop cars, local personalities), but I also was intrigued by the story.

Most reviews I've read about this movie criticize the makers for trying to run on one joke for 90 minutes. Instead, I think the audience laughs because the characters (especially Flip) are trying so pitifully hard. Flip is like any teenager (in Iowa or elsewhere) who's searching for his spot in the world. He doesn't like his life (what teenager does?) and he is drawn to the "idea" of the ghetto he gets from music videos. His fantasies are so opposite from what he knows -wealth, women, recognition. In his fantasy world, everyone fits into the slots he gives them with no questions. The problem is he can't separate his fantasy from reality, and when reality slaps him in the face (Chicago) he is forced to take a look at who he really is - a faulted, bigoted, everyday person.

It's hard to face our faults, and the filmmakers must use an exaggerated character with exaggerated actions in an extreme situation to make this seem less like a cheesy story about some loser wannabes with no clue and more like a paradoxical look at facing ourselves. Without this movie's extreme and often sad backdrop, I would write it off as another "we're more cultured than you, aren't Iowans dumb" story. Instead, I think this is a smart, biting story that challenges us to take a look past what we want everyone else to see and examine who we are underneath, faults and all.

It took me a few days of flipping past this movie before I finally convinced myself to see what it was about, but I was surprised to find that it was actually entertaining. Whiteboys looks into the lives of farmtown white kids obsessed with black "gangsta" rap and the lifestyle that seems to surround it. This movie is filled with funny moments but also has some pretty serious moments. As I read the other comments, I noticed the main people offended was from Iowa, and everyone else just had something go over their head. I can say that even though I've never met any white boys this stupid, it is some wannabees out there who may have saw this movie and saw themselves a little bit. I found it funny the way they saw Khalid because I see that happen all the time. I can't tell you how many times someone has came to me assuming that I automatically know where to get drugs from. On the flip side, it is also some black kids in suburbia who idolize a thug lifestyle and wish to try to live it out,too. So really it not so much about race as it is dealing with growing up, coming of age, and finding yourself and all those things. Oh yeah, you can throw in rebelling from your parents, too. It was intersesting to see how the characters had changed by the end of the movie. I guess I'm done rambling now, but this is definitely worth renting when you've ran out of big name moives to rent, personally I'd buy the DVD but wouldn't spend more that $15 to buy it.

just writing this to inform the guy that wrote he wanted to puke after hearing Flip's birthmark comment it's a comedy and best viewed if blazed up. In fact if you expect a deep introspective look into white guys acting black this movie is not it. It's a movie with a couple gimmicky lines and i actually LOL'd my ass off thru most of it with my buddies the year it came out. If you're 16-24 you're going to laugh regardless of skin tone. If not thats cool too but why watch the whole thing and just get racist angry? Peace everyone and God Bless! 6 out of ten mostly cause i had a really nice bag of the chronic and it was epic funny.

I saw this movie on HBO during my senior year of high school (2000-2001) and thought it was great, and it had a message. It is definitely a message that needs to be spread. Back in the town I grew up in in Upstate New York, the "whigger" thing (white n 1gger) was really big to the point where I was probably the only kid in my town who still dressed normal and listened to heavy metal and punk instead of rap. It really got to be aggrivating because I couldn't relate to hardly anybody accept my close circle. Then I saw this movie and after the end, I am thinking that all of these kids at my school should take a look at this movie and then take a look at themselves. I loved Danny Hoch's performance by the way. As far as a rating, I give this movie a 7 on my scale of 0 to 10.

i can understand why the makers of this film would want to exaggerate the situation, but i didn't think it need to be set in Iowa. as previous users have mentioned, Iowa is not drug- and black-free, but its image is of wholesome, all-white nostalgia. i didn't really buy Danny Hoch's Flip as an Iowa native, he still sounds too Brooklyn. i think it would have been better if it taken place in Jersey, but i understand the director's desire to show just how far Flip stretches.

That said, i think it's a brilliant, if flawed, movie. it spends a bit too much time watching Flip do his misguided thing, before getting to the climax in Cabrini-Green. Hoch is great at affecting that 'what the hell is going on?' look, and tho this may sound weird, he doesn't overplay the character, except when he's in full blown hip hop mode. other than that his character is completely believable. he nails that character so well, the guy we've all known who has some idea in his head so large he can't hear anything else. Until he takes it too far.