Rating: 
Summary: If you want a Black Comedy....This is it
Review: Some movies you see and you just don't know what to expect. Such was the case when I saw Bamboozled. Spike Lee's movies have always been hard to judge by their cover. This one was as well...not that that is a bad thing. I found myself expecting one type of movie and getting much more in return because of the mindset I went in with. I was expecting something witty yet cutting at the same time. Little did I know that Spike was going to use this against me to drive his point home. Alot of the reviews I have read from viewers completely "blast" Damon Wayans. I on the other hand think that this was one of his strongest roles. Most people probably watched this expecting a comedy because of Damon's casting. Spike couldn't have done a much better job of recruiting a cast. Don't go into this movie expecting to roll with laughter, but don't go into this movie taking it too seriously either. It's a little of both.
Rating: 
Summary: IF YOU ARE BLACK...YOU NEED TO SEE AND UNDERSTAND THIS MOVIE
Review: YOU KNOW, IT'S SAD THAT SPIKE LEE WILL HAVE TO BE OLD, GRAY-HAIRED, OR WORSE, NO LONGER WITH US, BEFORE HIS FILMS, WILL BE ACKNOWLEDGED FOR WHAT THEY TRULY ARE: MASTERPIECES!!! "BAMBOOZLED" IS A FILM THAT NEEDS TO WAKE UP BLACK AMERICA. SOME PEOPLE HAVE SAID THAT, THIS MOVIE IS TOO AWKWARD AND DIFFICULT TO WATCH. "BAMBOOZLED" IS NOT A COMEDY, NOR IS IT A DRAMA. THE MOVIE IS A MOMENT OF TRUTH AND A MOMENT OF COURAGE. AFTER SEEING THIS MOVIE, I CAN NEVER SEE EDDIE MURPHY ON "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE", THE CHARACTER OF JJ FROM "GOOD TIMES", OR EVEN STEVE URKEL FROM "FAMILY MATTERS", THE SAME WAY AGAIN. AFTER SEEING "BAMBOOZLED", YOU WILL KNOW WHY.
Rating: 
Summary: Self-indulgent and difficult to watch
Review: If you're a die-hard Spike Lee fan, then maybe you should get this. Otherwise, forget it. Damon Wayans is so bad in this movie that it makes it painful to watch at all. I found myself embarrased for both him and Spike. This movie doesn't get its message across by example or story -- characters simply hit you over the head by shouting out Spike Lee's ideas and themes in clumsy dialogue. The only good thing about the movie is that there is never a dull moment. If you can ignore Damon's forced accent and insipid delivery, you can actually be marginally entertained.
Rating:
Summary: A Much Needed Reminder!
Review: This movie is another testament to the creative genius of Spike Lee! This movie has had very powerful impact on my life because there is now another movie that further exposes the racist actions that Hollywood projects of Black people! Sometimes I listen to other Blacks talk about how they did not like the movie but they will say that (historically racist 5th Element or The Mummy) was a good movie. Not realizing that if you do not know your history someone could be insulting you and you not even realize it. Bamboozaled says open your eyes and stop simply accepting what ever is put in your "idiot box". "He who does not know their past is bound to repeat it. After seeing this movie you should be able to other shows like "Martin", "Fresh Prince", "Jamie Foxx Show" and any other of these step and fetch it shows that belittle us. We are a people who has been miseducated and starved, aka bamboozaled, into thinking that we are less than human and that is all that we should expect from the "idiot box". If you had a problem with Bamboozaled check your views, values and perspectives and see what they most resemble, Black folks or oppressive views, values and perspectives!
Rating: 
Summary: Where's the controversy?
Review: (There are enough other reviews summarizing the plot, so I'll leave that boring tidbit out of my review)I've never been a huge Spike Lee fan - most of his movies just bore the hell out of me. I had no intent to see Bamboozled. However, after an accquaintance convinced me that it was worth seeing, I rented it. When the movie first started, I had high hopes, which were quickly rewarded. Damon Wayans is great in a role unlike anything I've ever seen him do before. The beginning of the movie is just plain cool and fun to watch. Wayan's uptight TV producer occasionally breaks off from his serious tone to say something utterly hilarious. When a marketing expert offers, "That's the name. Catchy, isn't it?" He quickly retorts that "So is syphilis." The movie was smart, it was quick, it was gritty, and it was just plain interesting. I really started getting into the film, but however as the impact of what they were doing to themselves and their people started to hit the main characters the movie started to go on a downwards spiral into vagueness and strange behavior. There are two main problems I had with this movie. The first is simple plausibility. In the film the show is a runaway hit, but only the most racially biased and ignorant people would enjoy the show that Wayans has produced! All the characters, even the African-American ones, find themselves giggling at the character's antics, but I found myself barely cracking a grin. The second quibble I had is that it criticizes a problem that is pretty much nonexistent and not nearly as extreme as Spike Lee seems to think. The entire movie is centered around blackface and how the whole public loves it and totally enjoys keeping black people inferior and stupid through the makeup and cartoony look and so on and so forth. The end of the film features dozens of clips of blackface characters in films and cartoons, as well as numerous still of blackface paraphernelia, for lack of a better word. But blackface is dead! If it reappeared in the form we see it in "Bamboozled", it would be dead in two seconds. These clips and toys displaying blackface are all from before the 1950's! You can't judge modern society by toys made over 60 years ago! You would expect a stinging social critique from the movie, but it's really just a bunch of ramblings about how things USED to be. I suppose one could interpret the film as really being about how black entertainers will gladly sacrifice their race's dignity for popularity, but honestly that rarely happens to the extreme this movie displays. And for every show with a mostly white cast and idiotic black characters, there's a show like "Smart Guy" where the entire cast is black and most of the white characters are dorks, jerks, or simply wallpaper. Bottom line: This movie is cool enough in the beginning to garner the film 3 stars, but switches gear too strongly onto a nonexistent issue and ends up just spinning it's wheels.
Rating:
Summary: Spike Lee does it again
Review: Spike Lee fires at the social issues around today's entertainment industry and its issues from the past. First and foremost I would like to say that this is Spike Lee most powerful movie. For many years I didn't believe Malcom X could be topped, but some he did it. While watching this movie, you must view with an intelligent eye. Spike Lee wrote this movie like he beleived that this would be the very last movie of his life. I dont want to go into any content, but I can ashore you that this will be valuable to your collection and will make you think about and view things with a different eye.
Rating: 
Summary: sooooo poor!!!
Review: This is one of the movies who make me said "this ..." Poor movie, real bad film...Stupid story...I love Damon Wayans, but this one, I try to think that he's not Damon...by the way, Cop Land, Battlefield Earth are better movies!! this one is the most poorest movie that I never saw!! Really Sucks!!
Rating:
Summary: This ain't for the squeamish ...
Review: "In order to know where you're going, you have to understand where you're coming from." -- words my Tans used to tell me, a phrase that I didn't really understand. I had the pleasure of purchasing BAMBOOZLED on DVD, this past weekend. "RAW", "WOW" and "OUCH" are the words that would come to mind discussing this film. If you ever doubted Spikes' talent as a writer and director - doubt no more. BAMBOOZLED is a SATERICAL dramady. Hoping to get fired, a black TV executive reinvents the old blackface, song and dance minstrel show only to witness, to his horror, it become a huge hit among viewers. You're either gonna love or hate this movie. This movie is not for the squeamish or for those who want their movies nice and neat, and where thinking is not required. There are a lot of offensive images [what we deemed to be offensive] as well as offensive language though outs this movie - which runs two hours plus - it's not a comfortable ride. You find yourself laughing when you know you should be offended. Head nodding agreeing with some of the characters. Disbelief in others. While watching, you tell yourself that it couldn't happen, no way a show such as this could make it to networks. You sure about that? Look at many of the shows that geared towards us today and you realize that Spike "ain't" too far off in his assessment. The main character is full of self-hatred and negativity for himself as well as family members. It's interesting, 'cause in this movie, no one is completely good or completely evil - just operating on different levels. As much as I would love to go more into details about the characters, it's very difficult without giving away the movie. The images in the scenes are powerful. The first time the characters put on the blackface makeup. The first episode taped. The reaction of the audience. Like I said, I squirmed in my seat during the movie. There are two running commercials throughout the movie [or during the television show], one is a malt liquor called "Da Bomb", which is 125% proof alcohol in a bottle shaped like a bomb, and it's also known as the black man version of "viagra." The other is "Timmi Hillnigger", yes you read right - "Hillnigger". I'm sure you can imagine what his image is. During the commercial there's a line used, "stay in the ghetto, be poor, and by my clothes." Like I said, this movie ain't for the easily offended. Like I said, Spike makes you face issues - as in all of his movies - that you rather not deal with or would rather sweep under the table. And as with all of Spikes' movies, the ending is shocking that you never saw it coming.... If you do wound up purchasing the movie, may I suggest that you get the DVD version. As usual, there's the normal bunch of goodies on it. The main two are about 20 deleted scenes that never made it to final cut and a special "behind the scenes" documentary. Which includes interviews from Spike, the actors, a few movie critiques, as well as some historians on black history.
Rating:
Summary: Informative
Review: It's rare that I write reviews for movies. As a matter of fact, this is the first. But after watching this movie and not having an audience to discuss it with, I turned to the pen (so to speak) for a little intellectual and artistic release. Spike Lee takes no prisoners in his most recent film. Bamboozled depicts the entertainment industry's inability to produce shows that render African Americans in roles contrary to the stereotypes fostered by a history of deeming and negative portrayals. Lee's "in your face" approach can be somewhat off-putting. It's not surprising that the movie didn't do well at the box-office. The movie does do an excellent job of putting the issues faced by the writers, filmmakers, executives, and actors on display. The pressure on writers from executives to deliver hits that pull in the ratings and therefore the money. The uneasy predicament of African American actors left with the choice of earning a living in their profession given the absence of powerful, positive roles available in the industry. The most significant aspect of this movie for me was the subtle but certain assertion that mainstream America has little interest in shows that feature African Americans in roles that enlighten audiences to aspects of African American life that fall outside of the poor, crime ridden, comical characters we've become accustomed to seeing. Isn't it the viewing public who drives the ratings? Isn't the viewing public primarily made up of Middle American non-blacks? Don't we have the right/responsibility to reject programming by tuning out? So why was Mantan and Sleep-and-Eat such a big hit? I can't help but wonder how the production staff and actors in the film felt during the shooting, if the movie changed in any way their notions of the industry and their role in it. Bamboozled is a serious film, depicting serious issues that should stay at the forefront of the American television and film industry. If not, the new millennium will take on the face of the old establishment. If you're looking for an escape, this isn't it. If you're looking for another perspective on the traditional portrayal of African Americans by Hollywood (from one who's intimately familiar) Bamboozled is well worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: In both senses, a black comedy
Review: After the terrors of "Summer of Sam", Spike Lee has come up with "Bamboozled", in which he roasts TV and the way it exploits the black population. Unhappy with his situation at a television network, Pierre knows he can be sued if he quits, thus breaking his contract, so he figures out a fail-safe solution: he'll get himself fired by producing a show so outrageously offensive it will cause a racial backlash. (It's a variation of "The Producers"; even the initial audience reaction is similar.) Pierre is a re-invented man: he wears expensive suits and greets us with "Bonjour", but about half-way through the movie we learn his name is really Peerless and his father is a second-level night club comic. Pierre is very sensitive to racial issues, and so he's convinced his proposed showcase will be a shocking failure: a minstrel show for the new millennium. Two Afro-American street performers are re-named Man-Tan and Sleep 'n' Eat and put into situations (in a watermelon patch, no less) displaying how lazy and untrustworthy Negroes are -- but, hey, great tap dancers! The two are even required to wear black face. (I assume the N word cannot be used in Amazon.com, but it's used ad nauseam in this screenplay.)To Pierre's consternation, the show is a big hit; and he is faced with the dilemma of denying his principles to court success. In fact, he has fantasies of winning everything except a Nobel Prize. One of Spike Lee's strongest points as a writer-director is providing flashy roles for capable actors. I was appalled that Samuel L Jackson's performance in "Jungle Fever" was ignored by the Academy. In "Bamboozled" Lee has provided several such oppportunities, though nothing as showy as Jackson's. At first viewing, Damon Wayans may seem a little excessive with Pierre's affectations, but look again. Paul Mooney is compelling as his father, an entertainer who realizes he's gone as far as he's going to go. Savion Glover, Tommy Davidson, Michael Rapaport, and Jada Pinkett-Smith are all good in their different roles. (Al Sharpton and Johnnie Cochran play themselves, and one can't help but wonder: did they realize they were satirized?) The big flaw in "Bamboozled", the reason I can't give it four stars, is the violence with which Lee has chosen to end his dark comedy. I think it would have been much more powerful to circumvent the deaths and have the characters, chastised, watching the devastating montage which closes the picture: the humiliations, the buffooneries, the relentless yassuh yassuh yassuh that degraded black people for generations. It's the death of the spirit that is the revelation in Spike Lee's screenplay,and he weakens that message with physical destruction.
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