The Great White Hype (1996)
Bekkah:
I really don’t understand what happened in this movie. It was… OK? There were some great outfits, especially worn by Samuel L. Jackson and John Lovitz. But other than that, this movie was pretty forgettable. Two Jeff Goldblum/Damon Wayans movies in a row was pretty cool.
Danya:
I don’t really know what to say about this movie. It was kinda hard to follow everyone’s motivation, and the casual racist character wasn’t my favorite. What this movie lacked in plot, it really made up for in style. Watch it just for the outfits. I totally own that I am not the target audience for this, so maybe there is more there that I’m not getting.
We chose this movie during the start of the BLM demonstrations in June, but (not coincidentally) Jeff hasn’t been in many movies by Black directors. It was either this or a cop movie, and I think everyone understands why we wouldn’t be into watching a cop movie right now. Anyway, Black Lives Matter and if someone makes over 100 movies, more than two should be by Black directors.
4 / 10 Goldblums
When the champ's promoter, Reverend Sultan, decides something new is needed to boost the marketability of the boxing matches, he searches and finds the only man to ever beat the champ. The problem is that he isn't a boxer anymore and he's white. However, once Reverend Sultan convinces him to fight, he goes into heavy training, while the confident champ takes it easy, and falls out of shape. —P. Wong <pwong@nt.net>
Director: Reginald Hudlin
Writers: Tony Hendra (screenplay), Ron Shelton (screenplay)
Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Jeff Goldblum, Damon Wayans