"Pootie Tang", based on a sketch character from The Chris Rock Show, is another piece of evidence to add to the fact that sketch characters usually don't work for long periods of time look at most Saturday Night Live movies, and to a lesser extent Jay and Silent Bob. While the film is fun at parts and stays true to its audience, it's not a very enjoyable or memorable experience.
The film's main draw for me was Chris Rock; unfortunately, he was greatly limited by his weak supporting roles and this wasn't one of his best performances (and it wasn't one of his best performances either). Lance Crouther was pretty slick as Pootie Tang, a new-age blaxploitation superhero, but the gimmick of his own language without subtitles or anything went downhill really fast, especially since the same words seemed to have multiple meanings throughout the picture depending on the situation (though I'm no linguist, it could've just been misinterpretation). The villains, a generic evil white corporate geezer and decidedly less generic brother/dirty street dealer, served their purpose, the latter being more memorable only because of his obsession with staying literally dirty. All other characters (most of which are urban culture stereotypes, with the exception of a couple backwoods/redneck culture stereotypes) are introduced, serve no real purpose other than to fill space towards their one (or two) gag(s), do their gag(s), and then exit all the same without leaving a lasting impression (or, in the case of a bad gag, any laughter).
The problem with "Pootie Tang" was that the vast majority of the characters and gags just don't leave any lasting impression. Some of them were worth a chuckle, but the rest of it just seemed like Chris Rock light, toned down and lacking his signature edge (maybe I just expected too much as a Chris Rock fan who saw his name on this). It's quite possible that I'm just not the right audience, as it's quite apparent that the film knows its limits and caters exclusively to a specific type of cynical urban audience mind-set (as evidence for this, a friend told me when he saw it in the theatre that he, along with the rest of the audience, was rolling in the aisles with laughter).
One admirable and interesting thing to note is the film's soundtrack. Unlike most urban soundtracks, where seemingly random songs plucked together and marketed to push units with few connections to the film, songs in this film are lyrically linked to and played in connection with characters and events. This gives the songs the feel of a literal soundtrack, serving the same purpose as the score in other movies, and brings a welcome freshness that the rest of the film should have shared.
Part of the film's plot centers on Pootie Tang "selling out" and going from a street hero to just another image. In real life, this will never be an issue, because the film makes the effort but is just not funny or original enough to turn into the fun movie necessary for a worthy new franchise. The aforementioned soundtrack was rather clever though, along with the ending, but that was really it.
The film's main draw for me was Chris Rock; unfortunately, he was greatly limited by his weak supporting roles and this wasn't one of his best performances (and it wasn't one of his best performances either). Lance Crouther was pretty slick as Pootie Tang, a new-age blaxploitation superhero, but the gimmick of his own language without subtitles or anything went downhill really fast, especially since the same words seemed to have multiple meanings throughout the picture depending on the situation (though I'm no linguist, it could've just been misinterpretation). The villains, a generic evil white corporate geezer and decidedly less generic brother/dirty street dealer, served their purpose, the latter being more memorable only because of his obsession with staying literally dirty. All other characters (most of which are urban culture stereotypes, with the exception of a couple backwoods/redneck culture stereotypes) are introduced, serve no real purpose other than to fill space towards their one (or two) gag(s), do their gag(s), and then exit all the same without leaving a lasting impression (or, in the case of a bad gag, any laughter).
The problem with "Pootie Tang" was that the vast majority of the characters and gags just don't leave any lasting impression. Some of them were worth a chuckle, but the rest of it just seemed like Chris Rock light, toned down and lacking his signature edge (maybe I just expected too much as a Chris Rock fan who saw his name on this). It's quite possible that I'm just not the right audience, as it's quite apparent that the film knows its limits and caters exclusively to a specific type of cynical urban audience mind-set (as evidence for this, a friend told me when he saw it in the theatre that he, along with the rest of the audience, was rolling in the aisles with laughter).
One admirable and interesting thing to note is the film's soundtrack. Unlike most urban soundtracks, where seemingly random songs plucked together and marketed to push units with few connections to the film, songs in this film are lyrically linked to and played in connection with characters and events. This gives the songs the feel of a literal soundtrack, serving the same purpose as the score in other movies, and brings a welcome freshness that the rest of the film should have shared.
Part of the film's plot centers on Pootie Tang "selling out" and going from a street hero to just another image. In real life, this will never be an issue, because the film makes the effort but is just not funny or original enough to turn into the fun movie necessary for a worthy new franchise. The aforementioned soundtrack was rather clever though, along with the ending, but that was really it.