"Bamboozled" is the kind of film you should watch with someone else, since you WILL want to talk about it afterward. Because what Spike Lee does here -- and it's not the first time -- is toss you a live grenade and walk away, leaving you to figure out what to do next.
Lee's films often raise more questions than they answer, but that's OK. If he didn't raise these questions, well, you wouldn't hold your breath waiting for Michael Bay to fill that void.
This is not one of those movies where "satire" equals "comedy." It has its funny points, but if all you take away from this is laughs, you didn't get it. The sad part is, as with most of the Spikester's movies, the people he's really aiming at won't ever see it.
"Bamboozled" has flaws, to be sure. Mainly, there are points where -- and I'm speaking as whitey here -- believability is an issue. I know that Lee is stretching things for purposes of satire, and I know that shows like "Homeboys In Outer Space" still make the air in this day and age. But frankly, some things struck me as...unlikely at best.
There were, however, far mare points where it's dead-on. Two issues I wish Lee would have explored more is (1) why white America accepts certain portrayals of blacks, but outright rejects others, and (2) how white kids have come to embrace "black culture" so much more in the last ten years. And -- speaking as whitey again -- doesn't it infuriate many blacks to see middle- and upper-class whites co-opt that culture when their lives are so far removed from the experience that creates it?
No matter what you think of the rest of the movie, when you see the montage at the end, pretty much all you can do is drop your jaw and say, "OK, Spike, you made your point."
This is a good film for people who don't want to forget what they just saw as soon as the credits roll. And trust me, love it, hate it, or something in between, the last thing you'll do is forget it.
Lee's films often raise more questions than they answer, but that's OK. If he didn't raise these questions, well, you wouldn't hold your breath waiting for Michael Bay to fill that void.
This is not one of those movies where "satire" equals "comedy." It has its funny points, but if all you take away from this is laughs, you didn't get it. The sad part is, as with most of the Spikester's movies, the people he's really aiming at won't ever see it.
"Bamboozled" has flaws, to be sure. Mainly, there are points where -- and I'm speaking as whitey here -- believability is an issue. I know that Lee is stretching things for purposes of satire, and I know that shows like "Homeboys In Outer Space" still make the air in this day and age. But frankly, some things struck me as...unlikely at best.
There were, however, far mare points where it's dead-on. Two issues I wish Lee would have explored more is (1) why white America accepts certain portrayals of blacks, but outright rejects others, and (2) how white kids have come to embrace "black culture" so much more in the last ten years. And -- speaking as whitey again -- doesn't it infuriate many blacks to see middle- and upper-class whites co-opt that culture when their lives are so far removed from the experience that creates it?
No matter what you think of the rest of the movie, when you see the montage at the end, pretty much all you can do is drop your jaw and say, "OK, Spike, you made your point."
This is a good film for people who don't want to forget what they just saw as soon as the credits roll. And trust me, love it, hate it, or something in between, the last thing you'll do is forget it.