Hollywood Shuffle
Tags: satire

Plot synopsis:
Bobby Taylor (Robert Townsend) is a middle class black male aspiring to become an actor. He practices his lines in the bathroom, with his younger brother Stevie (Craigus R. Johnson) watching as he plays a stereotypical “jive” character for the audition for "Jivetime Jimmy's Revenge", a movie about street gangs. Bobby's grandmother (Helen Martin) overhears the “jive talk” and shows her disapproval. His mother (Starletta DuPois), is more supportive, telling Bobby that he is going to be late for the audition. Bobby assures his mother that if he lands the part, everything will change.
After the audition, Bobby talks with his boss Mr. Jones, who questions Bobby's dedication to his restaurant, Winky Dinky Dog. A limo then pulls up and the man inside is revealed to be B.B. Sanders (Brad Sanders), who plays Batty Boy in There's a Bat in My House. Ecstatic, Bobby asks Sanders how to tell a good part. Sanders tells him that if his character does not die in the script, then it's good part. Sanders also says that it is not about art, it is about the sequel.
Bobby gets a call from his agent and learns that his audition went well, but they wanted an “Eddie Murphy-type". Regardless, Bobby gets a callback. That night, he has a nightmare in which the director (Eugene Robert Glazer), writer (Dom Irrera), and casting director (Lisa Mende) hound him to be Eddie Murphy. Waiting in line with a group of Eddie Murphy clones, Bobby starts turning into Eddie Murphy himself until he wakes up in shock.
The next day, Bobby's co-workers, Donald and Tiny, belittle Bobby's career as an actor and his constant excuses for missing work, telling him that he will never make it as an actor. Bobby quits his job.
Later that night, Bobby visits his uncle Ray and expresses his doubts in pursuing his acting career. Ray encourages Bobby to try to follow his dreams. During his callback, the director, writer, and casting director are thrilled at Bobby's performance, calling it “very black” and give him the eponymous lead role. At home, Bobby celebrates getting the part with his girlfriend Lydia, when his grandmother comes home early and the three watch a film noir. Bobby has another fantasy of him playing the lead in his own film noir, called Death of a Breakdancer.
That night, Bobby dreams of the roles that he wants to play, from a Shakespearean king, to a black superhero, to Rambo. His final dream is that of him winning his fifth Oscar.
Bobby returns to the studio the next day to start filming "Jivetime Jimmy's Revenge" with his family in the audience. Due to his overwhelming guilt of playing such a stereotypical character, Bobby quits in the middle of the shoot. With his grandmother steadfastly telling him there is work at the post office, Bobby ends the film shooting a commercial for the USPS.

Review: Interesting and impressive, Hollywood Shuffle allows the characters to make the point that Townsend is making, without being too harsh or lecture-like.
The film incorporates some great parody scenes such as the Siskel and Ebert inspired "Speed and Tyrone" where the reviewers sneak into movies.
A couple haven't been that enthusiastic at first; thought it was all right but didn't understand the fuss I make about it, but the next day they'll want to watch it again.I find it pretty embarrassing when someone quotes the inevitable Austin Powers, but for months after seeing this film I just couldn't help it - probably the reason I had to get everyone I know to watch it.Some films have great scenes and some are just good films; this is both.
His self financed film Hollywood SHUFFLE pokes fun at the struggles many black actors face whilst looking for an acting career in Hollywood.
This film showed people how the Movie making business handles the majority of young black actors who're trying to make it in the movies.The story is about a young, talented and aspiring actor who wants to make it in Hollywood as a director.
Robert Townsend's independent debut is a light-hearted farce that explores the struggles of black actors of Hollywood.
This is typical of the kind of humor employed throughout the movie - Townsend takes a racial stereotype and turns it outside out, making us think and laugh out loud at the same time.I wish more directors, black or not, would follow Townsend's personal, self-effacing approach to movie-making but I guess it's easier to produce yet another violent shoot-em up or special effects showcase.
by Dane Youssef Movies in general are so formulaic that even most independent films are pretty routine and by-the-numbers.Maybe that's why "Hollywood Shuffle" feels so refreshing, like a much-needed change of pace.
Like "The Brother McMullen," this star-vehicle was written and directed by Townsend about his dream to make it as a professional actor, trying to break into Hollywood, while at the same time, trying to over-come the cruel limitations mainstream Hollywood has set up for black people who want to act...
that has an agenda.There is so much burning talent, so many struggling entertainers wanting to make something of themselves, that Hollywood can afford to treat the auditioning talent the same way a really strong cleanser treats germs.Townsend's efforts to make this movie are inspiring--he borrowed every dollar he could, asked for movie footage that was left on the cutting-room floor, called in every favor he could, threw everything he had and more to get this one made.To tell his story, get his foot in the door...
For those with talent who dare to dream big.Greats Keenan Ivory Wayans and John Witherspoon have bit players as people who work at a hog stand in the neighborhood who don't ask for much out of life...
He's more interested in using this to make up of all those dream roles he never got to play and showing his chops as an actor than really making a great movie.There's a scene where he takes-off "Siskel & Ebert"--before everyone started doing it.
It's great to see him playing all these roles you know he's always dreamed of doing (he plays them while his character actually IS day-dreaming).The movie captures the struggle of the out-of-work actor just right.
Like many other breakthrough films, especially independents, "Hollywood Shuffle" was another arrival of a fresh new talent.
You can see it here, not only in some of his satirist scenes, but some of the quieter moments where real drama in brewing and dreams are at stake.We see where Townsend is asking himself if he's good enough, if he face the whole world (which is how it is when you're struggling to make it as an entertainer or in life) and when life-long happiness is at stake.
Bobby Taylor wants to be a respected actor, but he has to settle for stereotypical roles in the white-dominated world of cinema.
When the movie is actually filmed, it gives the term 'Blaxploitation' a whole new meaning.Bobby lives with his brother Stevie and his grandmother, and he is often told he could work at the post office.
The fantasies are the best part of the movie.In one scene, slaves are escaping, and the one guy who worked in the house makes Stepin Fetchit look like Sidney Poitier.
Light-skinned blacks need not apply.In another fantasy, Bobby imagines that, since Siskel and Ebert are white guys who don't know what they are talking about, his people are represented by a couple of brothers in 'Sneakin' In The Movies'.
And there is a movie about pimps and hookers that is ten times worse than anything real.Probably the best fantasy of all happens while Bobby and his grandmother are watching 'Sam Ace', a Humphrey Bogart type movie.
The film 'Death of a Breakdancer', done in black and white with the film noir style (including jazz music) stars Bobby as a black Sam Ace. While the film shows positive images, stereotypes can still be found--Jerry Curl is one of the suspects and very funny.Rambo becomes Rambro in another scene.Should we be enjoying all these offensive portrayals of African-Americans?
Robert Townsend is black, and he produced, directed and co-wrote this movie and did a fine job of acting as well.
We're not like that, and I know it.This movie was made on a budget, but one reason was the use of the same actors in many different roles.
For the most part, it doesn't seem low-budget.One of the better moments in the 'real' world takes place in the barbershop run by Bobby's Uncle Ray. David McKnight does an admirable job in a dramatic scene.I highly recommend this movie..
The one scene that sticks in my mind are the audition scenes where blacks audition for demeaning roles casted by clueless white producers and directors trying to tell blacks to act the way they think blacks should act (ain't that a blip!) and looking for an "Eddie Murphy type".
While Wayans has sone on to better things (IN LIVING COLOR, I'M GONNA GIT YOU SUCKA and SCARY MOVIE), Townsend has not been so fortunate (The uneven THE FIVE HEARTBEATS, The lame TV sit-com THE PARENT 'HOOD and the godawful B.A.P.S.).
Robert Townsend plays a black actor who is trying to find an acting job in California...but all he finds are stereotypical roles.
It shows parodies of TV shows, movies and commercials all making fun of how blacks are treated in Hollywood.
Townsend did much better with his next film "The Five Heartbeats".Sadly this movie had no effect on Hollywood.
When Robert Townsend learned that the only screen jobs available to himself and other black actors were more or less the same, stereotypical assortment of pimp, prostitute and criminal character roles, he didn't get mad, he got even, channeling his frustration into a homemade satire of Hollywood discrimination (financed, according to PR legend, almost entirely by credit cards).
The often broad and obvious humor works well during the sometimes hilarious fantasy digressions: a Siskel and Ebert parody by two ghetto critics; a mock film noir scenario; and an irreverent commercial ad for The School of Black Acting.
Even though things have changed a little bit, this movie is still a fun parody & demonstrates to me the skills Robert Townsend has to pull off a movie with what he had at the time, and make it look like it has a decent budget.
Robert Townsend has made a great movie about the stereotyping of blacks in Hollywood.
I begin this review by asking this question because the film that I just witnessed, Hollywood Shuffle, was neither funny or rather dramatic.
Townsend's comic timing in this film was disastrous due to the fact that the elements he was supposed to be making fun of, he was instead promoting and vice versa.
The preview gives the impression of a very intelligent, comic film that prides itself on the intelligence of the viewers, but the actually film could not be further from the truth.The main problem with Hollywood Shuffle is not story itself (because it is lacking in elaboration); it is Townsend's direction.
From battling a villain known as Jerry Curl to parodying Siskel & Ebert, Townsend's attempt to poke fun while speak a message about the film industry falters.
Perhaps it was Townsend's direction, or just maybe this atrocious story, but these typically funny comedians were obviously underused and ignored when it came to critics of this film.
Townsend can be funny, but in this film it just felt like he was playing against himself, instead of through his personal experiences and troubles.
He plays a hopeful, charismatic, good-natured man who's trying to land a role in a film and earn some self-respect.The problem is, he has a very active fantasy life.
What this means is that often, mid-scene, Townsend's character will think about something like a movie being discussed, or something he sees on TV.
Instead, we watch a pretty unfunny scene that lasts more than five minutes as the two guys review fictitious movies such as an Amadeus ripoff and a pimp zombie film.
It's pretty unfunny, lasts way too long and milks the scenes for cheap laughs that fall flat.This happens way too much, and makes the movie seem awkward, as if there wasn't enough confidence in the basic premise and instead tried to pad the film with waste.
There was one exception, the first fantasy of the movie, where a fake school for black film stereotypes is advertised.
It's good satire, and being a white man, I wasn't offended but instead laughed at how accurate this parody was of some people's attitudes towards black characters.
As a result we're left with a storyline that isn't focused on when it should be at least 90% of the film.I liked Robert Townsend, and I felt for his plight.
Townsend's character was charming and I would have preferred to see him just be himself instead of the fantasy characters, but since that's the case only about half the time, I rate this movie a 5- promising but disappointing..
Robert Townsend burst onto the Hollywood scene with this great indie film and it's been downhill ever since.
Actors often have to weigh their ethical qualms at playing a role they find tactless (or even out-and-out racist) against the practical demands of paying the bills.In Hollywood Shuffle, Robert Townsend shows the African-American side of these difficulties in the story of aspiring actor Bobby Taylor in late-80s LA.
Bobby's story is interspersed with fantasy sequences that address and parody various popular films and genres.For an indie film, the visual look of Hollywood Shuffle is quite good.
It feels like Townsend couldn't decide between two types of movie - one a silly comedic satire lampooning Hollywood from a black perspective, and the other a more serious story with a more wry sense of humour derived from his real experiences as a struggling actor - and so he just tried to make both (but succeeded at neither).Much of the movie seems like it would have been dated even at the time it was released.
Now that's not to say that these new portrayals and perceptions of black characters and life weren't without their own particular problems - just that much of what Hollywood Shuffle presented feels like it would have been irrelevant by then.Overall, I agree with some of the other reviewers in the use of the word "uneven".
Robert Townsend directed wrote and produced this comedy with autobiographical moments as a black actor struggling to find work besides the usual stereotypical roles..Good insight into the racism that still exists today in the movies done in an uneven way but some comic gems are in here along with some other clever funny moments..on a scale of one to ten..5.
Still a fine, and refreshing moment from both the world of independent film(financed by Townsend's own credit cards) and comedy in general, especially "black comedies" and I don't mean those by Todd Solondz.It's the most absurd moments which stick with me, like John Witherspoon muttering to himself about "ho-cakes" and the film noir spoof featuring Jerry Curl (the greatest and greasiest of all villains).
So aside from episodes of "The Boondocks" on Cartoon Network, and the occasional "Chapel Show" re-run, there's still few intelligent, black comic voices, especially those critical of not just external finger pointing the ways the "white media" portrays African American's, but the ways and reasons which African Americans take on these roles and stereotypes in "black media" as well.Two "Boondocks" episodes this past year, critical of BET, were banned from the air, and only available to view on DVD, while Tyler Perry (famous for playing yet another cross dressing Mammy in a fat suit), makes films and TV shows every thirty five seconds...well at least there's always work at the Post-Office.
Robert Townsend comes off like a real troublemaker in 'Hollywood Shuffle", an incisive and often hysterical indictment of typecasting in Tinseltown.
I thought, "I'll give this movie a shot, I like Robert Townsend".
Robert Townsend had me in stitches.The movie is a comedy about the stereotyping that goes on in Hollywood.
It follows a young aspiring actor named Bobby Taylor (Robert Townsend) and his arduous road to becoming a Hollywood star.
The film focuses on Bobby Taylor (Robert Townsend) as he attempts to become a successful actor.
It features over the top white Hollywood casting agents, producers, and directors who provide feedback to black actors (in some cases classically trained) on how to act "more black" or be like Eddie Murphy.
I was amazed that there aren't even photos of the stars and director (Robert Townsend and others) on the cast page of this movie.
Much has been made of Hollywood Shuffle, Robert Townsend's debut film made at a very minimal cost.
Bobby Taylor (Robert Townsend) is an aspiring black actor from a middle class LA neighborhood.
Hollywood Shuffle is one of the best black comedies of all-time.
Robert Townsend used comedy for a great purpose(to convey a truth) and it worked out splendidly.Premise: Bobby(played by Robert Townsend) has dreams of making it big in Hollywood.
Sure most people might say that the acting is over-the-top but these actors who play in the types of movies that Hollywood Shuffle parodies are always over the top with their performance so what are you talking about?
There are some unforgettable bits here, like the Black Acting School, At the Movies, and the Health Clinic.
Lee did that with She's Gotta Have it in 1986, though in the scope of a more serious take on relationships, while Townsend's film is about images and representation in entertainment.That last description makes it sound heavy, like it might be work to watch this movie.
The highlights involve a satire of Siskel & Ebert - "critics" who "sneak in to s***" and review Amadeus (they don't like it because they can't pronounce the title) and a pimp-attacking-hookers thriller but as if the pimps are zombies, and they praise the direction despite the stereotypes(!) Townsend's character logically has these exaggerated, wild fantasies going on because he's a struggling actor, working part time as a hot-dog vendor, and the framing for these sketches - also including a spectacular, almost show-stopping detective spoof with "Sam Ace" and featuring Keenan Ivory Wayans in full Jheri Curl (that's his character's name, and seeing when the villain finally breaks down over spilt Curl juice is about as funny as anything, ever) - while he goes for a big role in a movie.
I think there could be a potential criticism that the movie has a split personality: on one side there's savagely satirical and mostly silly skits - it's interesting to see Paul Mooney at one point as this is clearly one of the forefathers of the Chapelle Show, or, considering the Wayans presence and co-writing credit, In Living Colour - and on the other is a sometimes amusing but really sad take on how black actors get pigeonholed as this or that kind of "character" when it's not exactly a fair representation (or at the least when that's *only* what is available).
The send-up of black stereotypes really stood out in one moment in the movie, where there's a TV commercial for the Robert Taylor Black Acting School where all the instructors are white and they "teach" African- American actors how to act black.
Bobby Taylor is an aspiring black actor in Hollywood who catches a big break as the lead in a movie called Jivetime Jimmy's Revenge.
However, as he considers the negative and stereotyped portrayal of black people in films, he starts to have serious doubts about his dreams of stardom.Produced and directed on a shoestring by thirty-year-old Townsend, Hollywood Shuffle is both a terrific and sobering drama about prejudice in Tinseltown and a hilariously funny series of vignettes from Bobby's point of view, almost like some weird love child of Imitation Of Life and Monty Python.
It's important to remember that at the time this movie was made there were virtually no mainstream African-American stars in Hollywood (hence the many references to Eddie Murphy).
The talented cast are great fun to watch, especially Woodard (Tyrone) and Johnson (Lydia, Willie Mae in the Mandingo bit, and the hooker at the end of Attack Of The Street Pimps), and all of the comedy is laugh-out-loud funny, particularly the Sneakin' In The Movies Siskel & Ebert spoof and the black-and-white private-eye flick, Death Of A Breakdancer.
Director/co-writer Robert Townsend gives a wonderfully engaging performance as eager and affable aspiring actor Bobby Taylor, who's having trouble getting that one major role that will launch his career.
Townsend delivers a pointed, incisive and often uproarious comic critique of racial stereotypes in mainstream Hollywood fare with a series of spot-on and frequently sidesplitting parodies.