BAMBOOZLED
Year: 2000
USA: New Line Cinema
UK: Entertainment Film Distributors
Cast: Damon Wayans, Savion Glover, Jada Pinkett Smith, Tommy Davidson, Michael Rapaport, Thomas Jefferson Byrd, Mira Sorvino, Paul Mooney, Sarah Jones, Gillian Iliana Waters, Susan Batson, Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, Tyheesha Collins, Cartier Williams, Jason Bernard, Baakari Wilder, Sekou Torbet, Ahmir Thompson, Tarig Trotter, James 'Kamal' Gray, Leonard 'Hub' Hubbard, Kyle 'Scratch' Jones, Christopher Wynkoop, Jani Blom, Dina Pearlman, Imhotep Gary Byrd, Johnnie L Cochran Jr, Rev Al Sharpton, Matthew Modine, Arthur Nascarella, Liza Jessie Peterson, Don Ezzard Peavy II, Tony Arnaud, Tuffy Questell, David Wain, Ron Lawrence, Al Palagonia, Mildred Clinton, Ephraim Benton, Tanesha Marie Gary, Shannon Walker Williams, Matthew Cole Weiss, Coati Mundi, La Bruja, Rodney 'Bear' Jackson, Rafael Osorio, Anna Hsieh, Kris Park, Cheryl Lynn Bowers, Julie Dretzin, Steven McElroy, Stephen Kunken, Katie MacNichol, Joshua Weinstein, A. D. Miles, Daniel Milder, Jason Winther, Ed Blunt, Renton Kirk, Kim Director, Conni Freestone, Rayietta Hill, Arthur Thomas, Lisa Ferreira, Kiki Haynes, Judah Jacobs, Light Eyes, Chyna, Luz Whitney, Danny Hoch, Mos Def, M C Serch, Gano Grills, Canibus, DJ Scratch, Charli Baltimore, Christina Parsons, Armand Schultz, Dante Beze
Director: Spike Lee
Country: USA
USA & UK: 135 mins
USA Rated: R for strong language and some violence
UK Certificate: 15 contains coarse language and moderate violence
USA Release Date: 20 October 2000 (Limited Release - wider)
USA Release Date: 6 October 2000 (Limited Release - Los Angeles and New York)
UK Release Date: 6 April 2001
Synopsis
Television gets a bold new viewing in Spike Lee's BAMBOOZLED. Lee's latest film is a blistering satire of network television's pitfalls and prejudices, a humorous look at how race, ratings and the pursuit of power lead to a television writer's stunning rise and tragic downfall.
Damon Wayans stars as Pierre Delacroix, a young, Harvard-educated man, who is the sole person of color, writing for an upstart network with floundering ratings. Despite several attempts, Delacroix has yet to see any of his concepts go into production. Now his boss, the ratings-hungry, culture-vulture Dunwitty (Michael Rappaport), issues him a searing ultimatum: come up with a hot, trend-setting, headline-making, urban hit or get fired.
Feeling doomed, Delacroix decides to present the most outrageous, unbelievable farce of stereotypical comedy he can imagine - hearkening back to the old days of "black-face" minstrel shows with a variety show featuring Mantan (Savion Glover), a homeless tap dancer, and his sidekick Womack (Tommy Davidson).
Incredibly, Delacroix's spoof turns into a ratings bonanza, a cultural phenomenon that has the media pundits raving and audiences of all types howling. But, for Delacroix, the runaway success of "Mantan The New Millennium Minstrel Show" is the start of a rapid unravelling. Despite trying to defend his hit show, Delacroix comes under attack from all sides, not least of all from his own beautiful assistant Sloan Hopkins (Jada Pinkett-Smith), who is falling for Mantan, and her radical hip hop rapper brother Big Black Africa (Mos Def). Delacroix's ratings keep rocketing, but they peak on a day that will change everything.
