Undercover Brother

Rating: Watch it if only to see all the hair.

Let me start by saying this movie is funny. Very funny.

Eddie Griffin plays Undercover Brother. His job is to stop The Man from oppressing black people. He works for The Chief and an underground organization called The Brotherhood, whose goal is to create equality. The Brotherhood also includes Sistah Girl, (Aunjanue Ellis), Smart Brother (Dave Chappelle), and Conspiracy Brother (Gary Anthony Williams). There is also a white intern, Lance (Neil Patric Harris) who is part of the Brotherhood’s affirmative action program.

The Man, in an attempt to brainwash powerful black people and make them into racial stereotypes, kidnaps war hero General Warren Boudwell (Billy Dee Williams in a Colin Powell-type role). The man-who-would-be-president ends up selling chicken on TV. These scenes are some of the funniest parts of the film, and the best social commentary the movie makes.

Undercover Brother and the Brotherhood need to save Boudwell and rest of the world from The Man. To do so, Undercover Brother must face The White She Devil (Denise Richards) and be saved by Sistah Girl.

Undercover Brother takes films from the 70s, like Shaft, as a starting point for its satire, but it’s also social commentary on films and society in general. As satire, it succeeds where Austin Powers fails. Meaning the entire movie is funny, not just a few 5-minute segments. As social commentary, it's a little soft and really could have gone farther.

This movie is well cast, including Williams as General Boudwell and Harris as Lance, who essentially play their own racial stereotype. Don’t expect depth in this movie though. All the characters are one-dimensional stereotypes. They are their names.

Director: Malcolm D Lee
Writers: John Ridley, Michael McCullers
Rated: PG-13 (I'd let Alex and Mason watch it. The PG-13 rating is for cartoonish violence and one silly sexual innuendo)