Attention celluloid connoisseurs, here's a movie that has that rare blend of outrageous comedy, biting satire, art with substance and spot-on social criticism. This film will have you chuckling and howling, then
thinking
a tad disturbed, but will inevitably leave you with more insight behind what fuels urban decadence. Spoofing the beating of Rodney King by the LAPD, this wickedly witty work exposes many of the root causes and perpetuation of these unfortunate, yet all-too-common incidents in society. Treating people like impersonal objects, distrust, misunderstanding, turf protection and crass commercialism all contribute to the frayed edges, short fuses and lethal disrespect of social intolerance. This movie doesn't just poke fun at racism, the media, political correctness and stereotyping, it throws stiff jabs and roundhouse kicks at the whole shithouse
and damn, it's funny! It also has the courage to face head on, deep human issues with a twinkle in the eye and tongue-in-cheek
everybody's guilty, yet everybody's cool.
It's a short film, less than an hour-and-a-half, but generates more substance per minute than bloated mainstream blockbusters. It warrants repeated viewing. The production values are not lacking despite a modest film budget and the dialogue is rich in subtlety, revealing the writer's depth of understanding of what makes society tick and what makes society sick. I found this refreshing while viewing it and even more so afterwards. Most films that deal with race related issues tend to be unconvincing due to shallowness in either the writing, directing or acting, or all the above.
Though I've enjoyed the serious intent of films like "Dangerous Minds," "Boyz In the Hood," and "Blackboard Jungle," they never quite convinced me that they had a finger on the pulse of what goes down in the 'hood.' "The L.A. Riot Spectacular," from its comedic perspective, hits much closer to home. It's a hip flick that switches gears seamlessly between highbrow and homeboy in the proper vernacular and with real authority.
The actors do a fine job bringing their obnoxious, yet endearing characters to life. As the story progresses, they undergo transformations and one can't help but laugh at and empathize with their follies. I particularly enjoyed Charles Dutton, as Mayor Bradley and it was fun seeing Ronnie Cox as Police Chief Gates. But I found the whole cast amusing with memorable performances by: TK Carter, who plays victim-turned-opportunist, Rodney King; Snoop Dogg lends a likable narration and entertainment presence; Emilio Estevez, still has the best snicker in Hollywood as Officer Powell along with Christopher McDonald as Officer Kuhn. George Hamilton achieves comedic transcendence when he morphs from flaky underdog to ominous overcat. Other notable caricatures were achieved by the actors who portrayed; the lucky slime who filmed the infamous beating on video, the dejected-but-lovable Mexican, the hard-luck-but-good-attitude Korean couple, the impossibly narrow Aryan father and son, the naive-but-mindlessly-dangerous gangstas, the sensational TV news couple with their shameless gall and of course, a blood-sucking lawyer.
Good art asks questions but some art reveals answers and tells you where your feet are. So to writer/director Marc Klasfeld, thanks for the hard work and awesome job! Keep jabbing away. This film will find its audience and make people guffaw for years to come and maybe someday we will, "all get along."
