Directed by:
Spike LeeScreenplay:
Spike LeeCinematography:
Ellen KurasComposer:
Terence BlanchardCast:
Damon Wayans, Savion Glover, Jada Pinkett Smith, Tommy Davidson, Michael Rapaport, Thomas Jefferson Byrd, Mos Def, Gano Grills, Johnnie Cochran (more)Plots(1)
Harvard-educated writer Pierre Delacroix (Damon Wayans), the only black employee on the staff of a struggling television network, suggests the most absurd idea for a pilot that he can possibly imagine, hoping it will convince his tyrannical boss, Dunwitty (Michael Rapaport), to terminate his contract and fire him. However, his plan backfires and his idea--MANTAN THE NEW MILLENNIUM MINSTREL SHOW--finds great success. The show is a stereotypical and racially charged depiction of the tap-dancing Mantan (Savion Glover) and Sleep 'n' Eat (Tommy Davidson), two lazy, homeless black men who spend their days in a watermelon patch. As the show becomes a national sensation, Delacroix, his assistant Sloan Hopkins (Jada Pinkett), as well as her older brother, aspiring rapper Big Black Af' (Mos Def), begin to see the harm the show is causing the community, triggering outbursts with deadly consequences. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Damon Wayans
USA
Best movies:
The Last Boy Scout (1991)
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Punchline (1988)
Savion Glover
USA
Best movies:
Bamboozled (2000)
Jada Pinkett Smith
USA
Best movies:
Reign Over Me (2007)
Collateral (2004)
The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
Tommy Davidson
USA
Best movies:
Black Dynamite (2009)
Bamboozled (2000)
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995)
Michael Rapaport
USA
Best movies:
Sully: Miracle on the Hudson (2016)
True Romance (1993)
The Basketball Diaries (1995)
Thomas Jefferson Byrd
USA
Best movies:
Ray (2004)
Clockers (1995)
He Got Game (1998)
Mos Def
USA
Best movies:
Something the Lord Made (2004) (TV movie)
Cadillac Records (2008)
Monster's Ball (2001)
Gano Grills
Best movies:
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
Hannibal (2001)
Bomb the System (2002)
Johnnie Cochran
USA
Best movies:
City of Lies (2018) - a.f.
Bamboozled (2000)
Showtime (2002)
Matthew Modine
USA
Best movies:
Stranger Things (2016) (series)
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Mira Sorvino
USA
Best movies:
Like Dandelion Dust (2009)
Quiz Show (1994)
Mighty Aphrodite (1995)
Arthur J. Nascarella
USA
Best movies:
Enemy of the State (1998)
Happiness (1998)
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001)
David Wain
USA
Best movies:
Delirious (2006)
Keeping the Faith (2000)
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
Bill Clinton
USA
Best movies:
Contact (1997) - a.f.
Richard Jewell (2019) - a.f.
Welcome to Sarajevo (1997) - a.f.
Tracy Morgan
USA
Best movies:
The Longest Yard (2005)
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
Rio (2011)
Cheryl Lynn Bowers
Best movies:
Auto Focus (2002)
Bamboozled (2000)
Evening (2007)
A.D. Miles
USA
Best movies:
Inside a Skinhead (2001)
13 Conversations About One Thing (2001)
Role Models (2008)
Danny Hoch
USA
Best movies:
Black Hawk Down (2001)
The Thin Red Line (1998)
BlacKkKlansman (2018)
Matthew Cole Weiss
USA
Best movies:
Bamboozled (2000)
Standing Still (2005)
Kim Director
USA
Best movies:
Inside Man (2006)
Split (2016)
Summer of Sam (1999)