Undercover Brother- A non-movie lover (me!) has been seriously funk-da-fied

How did we get to this point?

My fiance (Jason) and I found ourselves with nothing to do Sunday afternoon. It was an overcast, humid day, the type that made you feel like you needed to take a shower over and over again. Jason's mom suggested that we take his younger brother, Brandon, to a movie since Jason's family is moving away at the end of the month and brotherly bonding time is running short. Although I really don't enjoy watching movies (something to do with my short attention span) we jumped at the chance to get out of the house.

However, what movie would we see? Jason wanted to see Star Wars. I tried reading a science fiction novel once and felt deeply disturbed. The Never Ending Story gave me the willies. Laugh all you want but Star Wars was out of the question for me. Brandon, who is thirteen, kept chanting "Undercover Brother! Undercover Brother!" After the barrage of teen movies that seemed to take over the theaters, I assumed that Undercover Brother would be the next one in line. Sure, the previews on television seemed semi-funny but then again that is precisely what previews are supposed to make you believe. And, I hadn't heard any hype for the movie. It had to be a bomb. After a cursory glance through the "Movies" section of the paper, we realized that nothing else was playing. Since I definitely did not want to see Star Wars, it meant that Undercover Brother was it. At least Jason's mom was paying.

We trucked down to the local theater and paid the usual arm and a leg to get in, and another arm and a leg to get concession food. The building itself was busy, but it was pretty empty in the theater where Undercover Brother was playing. Another bad sign.

The movie started up with the usual twenty minutes of previews. I have a theory that if a movie has bad previews, generally the movie itself will be bad. And guess what? I thought the previews before Undercover Brother were horrible. I knew we were doomed.

Unfortunately, I was proven wrong (and that's oh-so-hard for me to admit).


The Plot (Don't worry, I'll try not to give too much away):

The B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. is an organization of Good Guys trying to fight "The Man", a sinister white guy who has a plan to "whitewash" the entire nation in order to squelch all black advances in society, reverting the nation into a time before the civil rights movements. When a popular and successful black General (who looks remarkably like Colin Powell) decides to open a fast-food fried chicken chain rather then run for President, the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. knows that the black population is in serious trouble. But who can they trust to save the day? Enter Undercover Brother (Eddie Griffen), a funkadelic Robin Hood that has a insatiable thirst for justice. Being the smooth guy that he is, he quickly woos the sassy "Sistah Girl" (Aunjanue Ellis), one of the top operatives in the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. Throughout the movie they work closely together as a pair.

Undercover Brother has a mission: to seek out "The Man's" plans. Although "The Man" is never actually identified (think Inspector Gadget), we do get to see a lot of his evil monkey boy who can't help but be influenced by black culture, Mr. Feather (Chris Kattan). In order to find out what Mr. Feather and "The Man" have in store, Undercover Brother needs to infiltrate white society. He needs an expert on whiteness. In comes Lance (Neil Patrick Harris). With Lance's help, Undercover Brother transforms into "Anton Jackson", a preppy nerd that shmoozes his way into working at a multinational incorporation. However, all plans get botched when Mr. Feathers releases his secret weapon known as Penelope Snow (Denise Richards), the quintessential attractive and preppy white girl. Will Undercover Brother snap out of his trance in order to save the day? From the mouth of Undercover Brother himself: "Ain't No Thang."


Oh, I can't stop laughing:

Obviously, Undercover Brother is a tongue-in-cheek comedy that comments (sometimes loudly) on white and black relations. Yes, there are a lot of slams toward white people. Who else would be a better "expert on whiteness" than Doogie Howser M.D.? Before you get all huffy, I'll let you know that both sides (black and white) get equally hit. The writers managed to pick up on a lot of the idiosyncrasies that affect both races and they commented on them in a way that was effective without being mean-spirited.

It was equally refreshing to be able to sit down and enjoy a comedy that wasn't full of smut, gore, and bad language. I know I must sound like a prude, but sometimes I just get sick of movies trying to outdo each other in the "grossness" factor. Fortunately, Undercover Brother mostly stays far away from what appears to be the norm for comedies these days and instead uses the power of satirical dialogue to get a laugh out of the audience. It works well.

All of the characters play very well off of each other. Yes, for once Chris Kattan (who I didn't even realize was in the movie until I actually saw the movie) played the role of Mr. Feathers very well (think Napoleonic complex) and didn't grate my nerves. And although David Chappelle's character (a minor role as Conspiracy Brother, not mentioned in the plot) was supposed to be somewhat ignorant and loud, he didn't take over the whole film, which is something that the director could have easily let him do. Each and every character is well written and directed.

Rated PG-13, I would suggest this movie to an audience of anyone over thirteen years old. Although the movie doesn't contain much material that would be offending, a lot of the jokes are for the benefit of an older audience of say 20-50 year olds. In other words, I wouldn't be embarrassed to show the content of this movie to my 72 year-old grandma (except she might not get the jokes because she can be pretty daft sometimes, but that's another issue altogether).


My recommendation:

A comedy that quietly earned three stars, I would emphatically recommend Undercover Brother to anyone who is looking for a break from all of the science fiction and drama movies that are crowding the ticket lines. At just under an hour and a half, this movie is guaranteed to make you laugh out loud and you'll leave the theater smiling. Let's just put it this way: for someone who has little interest in movies, I will be adding this movie to my collection (of two other movies) as soon as it comes out on video.


Recommended Websites:

www.undercoverbrother.com