Rating: 
Summary: "The pimp game is a lonely one."
Review: There is a lot to offend in the documentary "American Pimp." As the title suggests, pimps are the subjects of this documentary. Before watching this film, ask yourself if you want to watch pimps talking about how they find and train girls. Pimps are not exactly exalted in society (although apparently there is a Pimp of the Year contest), and most people probably will find this film distasteful to some degree or another. Pimps with names such as Bishop Don Juan Magic, C-Note, Charm, Payroll, Rosebudd, and Sir Captain hold interviews explaining pimping. The film is broken down into sections which including the definition of a pimp, how they got into the business, the origins of the pimp, pimp style, rules of the game and 'knocking' (when a pimp lures a girl away from a rival pimp), etc. The documentary also includes clips from many pimp films. It seems that the trend in documentaries is to move away from the heavy-handed directorial style of the past, and to present interviews that loosely flow, so that the film acts as a mirror of the documentary topic. This is the method followed by the Hughes Brothers in "American Pimp." Unfortunately, critics of the film seem to interpret the documentary's style as glorification of pimps. This is simply not so. The directors placed a mirror is front of the pimps, and stuck a microphone in front of their mouths, and then the actions and the words of the pimps were recorded. This is not glorification--this is documentation. It is for the viewer to make moral judgments on what they see and hear. Pimps are asked whether or not they consider giving their girls (and I have to use the word 'girls' here, but that is not the word used in the documentary) a percentage of the money they make. The pimps uniformly found the idea so ludicrous that some actually laughed. Also pimps declared that some girls ended up in 'the crazy house' as if this is a bizarre phenomenon for which there was no logical explanation. Pimps also remembered the girls who were murdered--one was commemorated by a very large diamond necklace, but at no point did a pimp say that he quit the business because of this or that girl's death. Life goes on apparently... I wish the documentary had included some additional interviews with the girls. Some of the most upsetting footage (for me) showed one girl being yanked out of a phone booth and ordered back to work. Indeed the pimps appear at their most unpleasant when they describe how they get girls and the treatment they apparently think the girls need. Some of the girls spoke in the presence of their pimp, and two were interviewed alone. Some data would have been interesting too. The DVD includes an interview with the Hughes brothers, and in the interview they explain their interest in the topic. There were spots in the documentary in which various pimps felt compelled, apparently, to pass on handy tips, and this did give the impression of training--or Pimpology 101 for the entrepreneur, but overall, the documentary was a chilling reflection of the sort of lives these girls lead. "American Pimp" is the biggest argument for the legalization of prostitution I've seen in years--displacedhuman
Rating:
Summary: "The pimp game is a lonely one."
Review: There is a lot to offend in the documentary "American Pimp." As the title suggests, pimps are the subjects of this documentary. Before watching this film, ask yourself if you want to watch pimps talking about how they find and train girls. Pimps are not exactly exalted in society (although apparently there is a Pimp of the Year contest), and most people probably will find this film distasteful to some degree or another. Pimps with names such as Bishop Don Juan Magic, C-Note, Charm, Payroll, Rosebudd, and Sir Captain hold interviews explaining pimping. The film is broken down into sections which including the definition of a pimp, how they got into the business, the origins of the pimp, pimp style, rules of the game and 'knocking' (when a pimp lures a girl away from a rival pimp), etc. The documentary also includes clips from many pimp films. It seems that the trend in documentaries is to move away from the heavy-handed directorial style of the past, and to present interviews that loosely flow, so that the film acts as a mirror of the documentary topic. This is the method followed by the Hughes Brothers in "American Pimp." Unfortunately, critics of the film seem to interpret the documentary's style as glorification of pimps. This is simply not so. The directors placed a mirror is front of the pimps, and stuck a microphone in front of their mouths, and then the actions and the words of the pimps were recorded. This is not glorification--this is documentation. It is for the viewer to make moral judgments on what they see and hear. Pimps are asked whether or not they consider giving their girls (and I have to use the word 'girls' here, but that is not the word used in the documentary) a percentage of the money they make. The pimps uniformly found the idea so ludicrous that some actually laughed. Also pimps declared that some girls ended up in 'the crazy house' as if this is a bizarre phenomenon for which there was no logical explanation. Pimps also remembered the girls who were murdered--one was commemorated by a very large diamond necklace, but at no point did a pimp say that he quit the business because of this or that girl's death. Life goes on apparently... I wish the documentary had included some additional interviews with the girls. Some of the most upsetting footage (for me) showed one girl being yanked out of a phone booth and ordered back to work. Indeed the pimps appear at their most unpleasant when they describe how they get girls and the treatment they apparently think the girls need. Some of the girls spoke in the presence of their pimp, and two were interviewed alone. Some data would have been interesting too. The DVD includes an interview with the Hughes brothers, and in the interview they explain their interest in the topic. There were spots in the documentary in which various pimps felt compelled, apparently, to pass on handy tips, and this did give the impression of training--or Pimpology 101 for the entrepreneur, but overall, the documentary was a chilling reflection of the sort of lives these girls lead. "American Pimp" is the biggest argument for the legalization of prostitution I've seen in years--displacedhuman
Rating: 
Summary: Gets the job done
Review: This documentary is just that. A documentary, and it is very enlightening movie. I recommend that you watch the interview of the Hughes brothers before and after viewing the film. And like they say, you really have to watch the film twice to fully appreciate the messages, and allow a lot of the statements to really sink in. Remove all preconceptions about what you think this film is before you press the play button.
Rating:
Summary: Truth and fiction are strangers...
Review: This documentery plays out more like a well executed 'docu-spoof'. I still find myself thinking, "Was that real?, could it of possibly been real?" The dark synbiosis between the 'users' and the 'used' of humanity is highlighted in this incredible production. There is some kind of underlying wisdom, to every aspect of pimp-dom that causes the viewer to gain a slight understanding into the underlying world of illegal prostitution and into the further underlying world of pimps.
Rating:
Summary: to a street corner near you:
Review: This is a bad-ass fun movie; do not waste your time at movies like The Patriot, or Scary Movie. This is the one. MOY. The best soundtrack, you get to hang out w/ self-proclaimed mutha f---as, and Pimpin' ain't easy, it's a business. You have to be a businessman, man. I only give it 4 stars because I can't be too on their jocks, but these boys (the Hughes) make movies I'm proud of. I'm proud of you, boys. Plus T. Shaw's in the movie! Go ahead. See it. Prove me wrong.
Rating:
Summary: Leading The Life Unexamined and Not Even Knowing It
Review: This is a very hard documentary to grade. This is because although it is well done, the characters are such low lifes that half way through you will wonder why you are continuing to watch it. Admitting that they have never met a white pimp, that it seems to be solely the provenance of the black man to be a pimp, these real-life pimps rejoice that they are able to "live like kings" off providing prostitutes for the white man. That their reward for this is flashy cash, no friends or family, no worthier pursuits or goals in life plus trashy, flashy wardrobes and other, like, accoutrememnts, shows exactly how ignorant they are. They have their own vocabulary and seem equally oblivious to the fact that they use it to dehumanize those that they need to exploit. Every other sentence out of their mouths is, "Do ya know what I'm saying?" Yes, we do; only they don't seem to know what they are saying: that they have become the modern world's equivalent to the overseer on a Southern plantation pre Civil War. As a side note, I had no idea that the late designer, Versace, was capable of such trashy clothing. I was aghast to see one godawful Versace after another in one pimp's closet.
Rating:
Summary: Very Entertaining
Review: This is one VERY entertaining motion picture. The soundtrack is great in the interviewees are entertaining as anything. My only drawback ... it does not cut to deep behind the "pimpin'" image.
Rating:
Summary: Real Ghetto Fabulus
Review: This is worth checking out from player to player Pimp to pimp
i'm waiting for a follow up!
The hughes Bro. let you be the judge. Only set backs were the
misc. cutaways between the true pimp episodes.
Rating:
Summary: Ben- I wouldn't lie to ya playboy
Review: What more could you ask for, besides checking a big bankroll, ya dig. A mane, sqaures beware, do not enter; ok. Its the real deal about pimping, ya hear me. Don't play wit that. If you buy it you'll like it. Everytime I watch it I laugh like its my first time seeing it. Make your next move your best move. Pimping aint dead, it just the gals scared. Those cats are some real characters, but they got ladies down for them, 100.
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