A Movie Review of Hollywood Shuffle

Hollywood Shuffle is about Bobby Taylor, an African-American that is following his dream of becoming an actor, but can only get characters that are stereotypical for African-Americans. He goes to an audition for a jive pimp, and is faced with a decision: either take the role and contribute to the stereotype, or decline the role and stick to his morals. Throughout the movie, there are clips of how African-Americans are depicted in Hollywood movies, so you get a very broad, but limited, samples of roles they play.

Bobby Taylor is an actor struggling to get his break-through role. When he finally gets the job he must make a decision, either take it and play a stereotypical character, or hold on to some dignity and morals. It’s a struggle that is displayed all the way thru the movie. Bobby imagines himself being a director at a “black acting” school, rating movies with black actors in them, and then being threatened by the NAACP for playing a stereotypical black character in a movie. Every segment that he imagines serves as a way to reveal his internal struggle about playing the role he was offered. There are also characters that serve as the extremes of both sides. On the “selling yourself” side is the comedy actor “Batty”, which tells him that if his character does not die at the end, then it’s a good role. On the “stick to your morals” side is Bobby’s grandmother; which right out hates the idea of his grandson contributing to the deteriorating image of African-Americans.

The pace of the movie is good, it’s not slow or fast, it’s right down the middle, the scenes flow effortlessly and the story always feels concrete. The dialogue is good and feels genuine. The overall tone of the film is comedy, with some amount of drama, but not so much as it seems over done. The little segments are different enough to feel fresh, but no so distanced from the look of the movie that they feel disconnected. Hollywood Shuffle is a very fun movie that also comments on the state of African-American movies during that period of time.

-This is where the part for school is over, and my opinion starts-

Some comedy stuff is a little out dated, but some is high comedy. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this movie, but if you happen to come across it then you might give it a watch. There is a part when they are reviewing movies, and they show this one Zombie Pimps scene...now THAT is a movie i would go watch!

MOVIE SCORE:

• 6.5/10
• A (O.W.L.)