Ain’t nothin’ like a good, vengeful beat-down. I can only imagine the ruckus the scene caused in the theater. It has some pacing issues and its somewhat episodic nature makes it feel longer than it is, but its narrative pays off rather well and it succeeds in delivering one of the best revenge-driven beat-downs I’ve ever seen. That all being said, I really enjoyed The Players Club. I’m only seeking to shine a little light on a subject that I find woefully underrepresented in the blog-o-sphere. But let’s be clear: I don’t want to assign The Players Club a good rating based on some bullshit, affirmative action rating bias. It only hopes to be entertaining melodrama, showing the perils of working a high-risk job like stripping, and how one girl might rise above it.Īnd I must consider these facts when watching and reviewing and rating the film it wouldn’t be fair to do it any other way. It’s definitely not high art, but it never aspires to be. Not to mention a few other sub-plots thrown in to spice up the dramatic bouillabaisse.
It simultaneously tells the story of the weaselly club owner and his troubles with a local gangster.
THE PLAYERS CLUB 1998 MOVIE
The movie loosely follows a traditional narrative structure as it charts the journey of Diamond, a dancer at The Players Club trying to put herself through college. It’s the same reason why non-fantasy fans think The Hobbit is dumb it’s not for them.Īnd Ice Cube’s début as a writer/director is firmly in the “not for them” camp. I’ve long wondered why mainstream critics (and some bloggers) hate on these “urban” movies so harshly, why Tyler Perry’s newest film always receives scathing criticism and is the brunt of many jokes. This might sound strange, but I mean nothing negative by that. And that’s when it hit me: films produced for a predominantly black audience should be viewed by non-black audiences as foreign films, as a window to the entertainment of another culture. There’s always going to be an “outsider looking in” mentality, something lost in the translation. The films very rarely crossover to mainstream audiences, but they’re out there doin’ their thang, producing films for a select audience of people.Īnd if you’re not from this select audience, you’re not necessarily going to respond to the material in the same manner. But for a long time, probably since the Blaxploitation movement in the ’70s, there has been a small but thriving black filmmaking community.
THE PLAYERS CLUB 1998 SKIN
One look at the popular entertainment produced by Hollywood will show you that actors of any color skin other than white better be ready for a whole lot of supporting roles.
In today’s society we hear a lot about how racism is dead, or how we’re living in a post-racial world, but that’s all bullshit. It never congealed into a deep, coherent thought because I was always entertained with the brewing drama occurring between the characters, and there was never really a down moment to ponder this. I’m not trying to generalize and I don’t mean that in any way other than descriptive, but my mind kept returning to this fact while watching the film. I know next to nothing about this.įirst and foremost, The Players Club is a movie by and for black people. Starring LisaRaye, Bernie Mac, Monica Calhoun, Jamie Foxx, Chrystale Wilson, Adele Givens, Anthony Johnson, Faizon Love, John Amos, Charlie Murphy, Montae Russell, Ice Cube, Samuel Monroe Jr., Alex Thomas, Terrence Howard, Luther Campbell, Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister, Michael Clarke DuncanĮxpectations: Moderate.
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