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CB4
Chris Rock was the co-producer and co-screenwriter of 1993's CB4, a sadly unfunny parody of the gangsta rap wars and groups like Run DMC, which pretty much ruled radio airwaves during the 1990's.
Rock attempts to go the way of This is Spinal Tap in this story of a guy named Albert (Rock) who, along with his friends Euripides (Allen Payne) and Otis (Deezer) decide to form a rap group: Euripides becomes Dead Mike and Otis becomes Stab Master Orson. Unfortunately, Albert makes the mistake of naming himself MC Gusto, a name he stole from a local gangster who wants payback.
This is subject matter that is rife for parody, but Rock and company only supply sporadic laughs that don't sustain throughout the running time, which is actually a little under 90 minutes. I'm not exactly sure what the problem is here, but the problem with most films starts with the screenplay and that's probably where the problem starts here. This is another one of those comedies that isn't sure if it wants to tell the story with a straight face or treat it more as a Mel Brooks-type spoof. I think the latter was the intention and the film seems to start off that way, but once the film flashes back to to the group getting together, the proceedings become a little antiseptic and lose the edge that the opening scenes create.
The film opens with a white filmmaker (Chris Elliott) showing the group the rough cut of a documentary that he has done on the group with the filmmaker shadowing MC Gusto in order to get a finish for the film that he needs. The film bills itself as a "rapumentary" but that's not what it is, because the story flashes back and becomes a straight up narrative, with a plot line and characters. CB4 (The CB stands for Cell Block, BTW) are not interviewed the way David, Nigel, and Derek are in Spinal Tap and I think that's where this film suffers. A documentary implies that real-life events are being documented and even documentary spoofs like Spinal Tap have an authenticity that brings you inside the lives of the characters, but that feelings is never accomplished here.
And as racist as it might sound, the fact that this film was directed by Tamra Davis, a white woman, surely didn't help. Davis directed Adam Sandler in Billy Madison but I don't know what made Rock think she was qualified to handle this project because it just comes off as a look at a black world through Caucasian eyes and things that were supposed to be funny just ended up being stupid. The best thing about the movie are the songs, with "Sweat from my Balls" a standout.
Rock works very hard at being funny here, but he seems very stifled here, but then again, the film career of Chris Rock has always been a bit of an enigma and movies like this one might be exactly why. Allen Payne, so memorable as G Money in New Jack City is very funny as Euripides as is Eddie Murphy's big brother, Charlie, as Gusto. There are cameos from Ice T, Halle Berry, Easy E, Shaquille O'Neill, and Ice Cube but parts are better than the whole here...pretty small parts.
Chris Rock was the co-producer and co-screenwriter of 1993's CB4, a sadly unfunny parody of the gangsta rap wars and groups like Run DMC, which pretty much ruled radio airwaves during the 1990's.
Rock attempts to go the way of This is Spinal Tap in this story of a guy named Albert (Rock) who, along with his friends Euripides (Allen Payne) and Otis (Deezer) decide to form a rap group: Euripides becomes Dead Mike and Otis becomes Stab Master Orson. Unfortunately, Albert makes the mistake of naming himself MC Gusto, a name he stole from a local gangster who wants payback.
This is subject matter that is rife for parody, but Rock and company only supply sporadic laughs that don't sustain throughout the running time, which is actually a little under 90 minutes. I'm not exactly sure what the problem is here, but the problem with most films starts with the screenplay and that's probably where the problem starts here. This is another one of those comedies that isn't sure if it wants to tell the story with a straight face or treat it more as a Mel Brooks-type spoof. I think the latter was the intention and the film seems to start off that way, but once the film flashes back to to the group getting together, the proceedings become a little antiseptic and lose the edge that the opening scenes create.
The film opens with a white filmmaker (Chris Elliott) showing the group the rough cut of a documentary that he has done on the group with the filmmaker shadowing MC Gusto in order to get a finish for the film that he needs. The film bills itself as a "rapumentary" but that's not what it is, because the story flashes back and becomes a straight up narrative, with a plot line and characters. CB4 (The CB stands for Cell Block, BTW) are not interviewed the way David, Nigel, and Derek are in Spinal Tap and I think that's where this film suffers. A documentary implies that real-life events are being documented and even documentary spoofs like Spinal Tap have an authenticity that brings you inside the lives of the characters, but that feelings is never accomplished here.
And as racist as it might sound, the fact that this film was directed by Tamra Davis, a white woman, surely didn't help. Davis directed Adam Sandler in Billy Madison but I don't know what made Rock think she was qualified to handle this project because it just comes off as a look at a black world through Caucasian eyes and things that were supposed to be funny just ended up being stupid. The best thing about the movie are the songs, with "Sweat from my Balls" a standout.
Rock works very hard at being funny here, but he seems very stifled here, but then again, the film career of Chris Rock has always been a bit of an enigma and movies like this one might be exactly why. Allen Payne, so memorable as G Money in New Jack City is very funny as Euripides as is Eddie Murphy's big brother, Charlie, as Gusto. There are cameos from Ice T, Halle Berry, Easy E, Shaquille O'Neill, and Ice Cube but parts are better than the whole here...pretty small parts.