← Back to Reviews
in
Hollywood Shuffle
Robert Townsend was the creative force behind a slightly dated but often very clever comic farce from 1987 called Hollywood Shuffle that takes some very accurate pot shots at the foibles of being a black actor in white Hollywood.
Townsend plays Bobby Taylor, a struggling young actor who finally nabs his first role in a movie called "Jivetime Jimmy's Revenge", that not only has him questioning his career as an actor, but his principles as a black man.
The screenplay by Townsend and Keenan Ivory Wayans is a somewhat effective combination of a realistic look at a black actor struggling to make it in Hollywood and some very effective pot shots at tinsel town, including a hysterically funny commercial for something called the Black Acting School, a spoof of Siskel and Ebert and spoofs of Sam Spade, Dirty Harry, and Zombie movies.
Though the point of the movie is driven home with a slight sledgehammer effect, the message Townsend is trying to communicate comes through loud and clear. It's no accident that the writer and director of "Jivetime Jimmy's Revenge" are white and we're not surprised when on the first day of filming, Bobby is told by the director that he needs to be "more black", but the influence his baby brother has on his career choices are a little hard to take.
Townsend brings strength, sincerity, and sensitivity to the role of Bobby Taylor and co-screenwriter Wayans has some funny moments in a dual role as a fast food co-worker of Bobby's and a movie bad guy named Jheri Curl. A couple of other familiar faces pop up along the way including Damon Wayans, Franklyn Ajaye, Paul Mooney and John Witherspoon, but this is Townsend's show, though a lot of it is kind of dated, there are still laughs to be found here.
Robert Townsend was the creative force behind a slightly dated but often very clever comic farce from 1987 called Hollywood Shuffle that takes some very accurate pot shots at the foibles of being a black actor in white Hollywood.
Townsend plays Bobby Taylor, a struggling young actor who finally nabs his first role in a movie called "Jivetime Jimmy's Revenge", that not only has him questioning his career as an actor, but his principles as a black man.
The screenplay by Townsend and Keenan Ivory Wayans is a somewhat effective combination of a realistic look at a black actor struggling to make it in Hollywood and some very effective pot shots at tinsel town, including a hysterically funny commercial for something called the Black Acting School, a spoof of Siskel and Ebert and spoofs of Sam Spade, Dirty Harry, and Zombie movies.
Though the point of the movie is driven home with a slight sledgehammer effect, the message Townsend is trying to communicate comes through loud and clear. It's no accident that the writer and director of "Jivetime Jimmy's Revenge" are white and we're not surprised when on the first day of filming, Bobby is told by the director that he needs to be "more black", but the influence his baby brother has on his career choices are a little hard to take.
Townsend brings strength, sincerity, and sensitivity to the role of Bobby Taylor and co-screenwriter Wayans has some funny moments in a dual role as a fast food co-worker of Bobby's and a movie bad guy named Jheri Curl. A couple of other familiar faces pop up along the way including Damon Wayans, Franklyn Ajaye, Paul Mooney and John Witherspoon, but this is Townsend's show, though a lot of it is kind of dated, there are still laughs to be found here.