This movie, based on sketches written for the Chris Rock Show, flopped back in the summer of 2001. Since then, it's garnered a bit of a cult following. I had to check it out, as I've become a little obsessed with comedian Louis C.K. lately. He was a writer for the Chris Rock Show at the time, for which he won an Emmy, and he wrote and directed this film. Nowadays, C.K. directs and writes (and edits, too, I think) his own show for the FX network, and it's easily one of the best things on television. Unfortunately, his talent does not at all shine through in Pootie Tang, and I honestly have no idea how anyone could find this movie funny. Really, it's a disaster. It's so bizarre that it is somewhat watchable, like a train derailment, but funny is something it absolutely is not. Lance Crouther stars as Pootie Tang, a folk hero of sorts who speaks in gibberish but is world famous for his movies, his music and his general heroism (he often gets in fights with drug dealers who end up in prison). The thing is, this character completely lacks charisma. He sounds like a rip-off of Eddie Murphy's Buckwheat character from SNL, but not even close to as amusing. Chris Rock co-stars in multiple roles (Pootie Tang's father and a member of his crew). Wanda Sykes is the most tolerable thing in the movie. I liked her dancing, at least. The plot reminds me of another lame 2001 comedy, Zoolander, but at least that one had a couple of laughs in it.
Review of Pootie Tang
