It has a good deal of energy and a splashy visual style, but its mixture of dramatic recreation, interviews and social commentary succeeds only sporadically.
Comment
06/01/04
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Baadasssss! (2004)
90
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:105
Fresh:95
Rotten:10
Average Rating:7.4/10
Consensus: An entertaining and intriguing tribute to a father from his son.
Theatrical Release:May 28, 2004 Limited
Box Office: $289,955
Synopsis: In "Baadasssss!" Mario Van Peebles pay tribute to his dad, pioneer black filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles. The Movie dramatically recounts the saga of what his father went through more than 30 years... [More]
Starring: Joy Bryant, Ossie Davis, David Alan Grier, Mario Van Peebles
Director: Mario Van Peebles
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Reviews for Baadasssss!
Compelling storytelling from the opening frame to the final credits, led by a cigar-chomping iconoclast doing it by any means necessary.
05/31/04
One is very glad to have Baadasssss! around, if only to remind younger moviegoers that taking chances and breaking rules can reap huge dividends.
05/28/04
Top CriticWhat keeps the saccharine 'Hey kids, let's put on a show!' vibe at bay is Mario's surprisingly clear-eyed view of his father.
05/28/04
The love radiates off the screen in this cinematic valentine, as Mario pays moving tribute to the influential filmmaker he has the privilege of calling 'Dad.'
05/28/04
A tour-de-force by Mario Van Peebles, who not only does an uncanny impression of his cocky and often unsympathetic father, but briskly directed and wrote the insightful screenplay (based on his father's memoirs) with Dennis Haggerty.
05/28/04
Top CriticA meta-cool history lesson and homage.
05/28/04
The best-told tale Mario Van Peebles has ever filmed. Full of psychological and cultural riches, it's a real gift that he can thank his father for living and giving.
05/28/04
Melvin's story, different from Sweetback's, has to do with marketing that resistance, to make his movie matter.
05/28/04
The tribute is touching, not only in Van Peebles' dedication, but also in his honest portrayal that doesn't overlook dad's periodic megalomania and paternal failures.
05/28/04
Polarizing and potentially galvanizing.
05/28/04
A funny and interesting look at independent filmmaking - no matter what color. It's hard to do the movie justice - it's plays much better than it sounds.
05/28/04
...Melvin’s counterculture classic will always outshine as the forefather, but Mario’s better-crafted companion piece is just as historically vital and easily as empowering.
05/27/04
A marvelously entertaining and fascinating film.
05/27/04
An entertaining movie.
05/27/04
Top CriticFor all its serious issues, Baadasssss! is terrific fun.
05/27/04
Top CriticMario Van Peebles's film is a lightly fictionalized account of the making of Sweet Sweetback's Baadassss Song, the 1971 film directed by his father, Melvin Van Peebles.
05/27/04
Top CriticColorful time capsule of a movie.
05/27/04
A madcap movie about the risks, the chaos, and the delirium of making an independent African-American film in 1970.
05/27/04
The beauty of Baadasssss! is the way Mario Van Peebles salutes his father's truth by coaxing it into legend.
05/27/04
Top CriticLatest News for Baadasssss!
January 03, 2006:
Vincent Schiavelli Passes at 57
Character actor Vincent Schiavelli, the long-faced veteran of over 150 film and television appearances, died of lung cancer December 26 at home in Sicily. He was 57 years old. More...
September 14, 2005:
Van Peebles "Wood" Direct a New Mystery Thriller
Mario Van Peebles has signed a deal with Spyglass Entertainment to direct and star in the mystery-thriller "Yellow Wood," says The Hollywood Reporter. More...
March 16, 2005:
Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival 2005
A 70-mm French comedy by Jacques Tati will open my 7th annual Overlooked Film Festival this April, and a Bollywood musical starring "the most beautiful woman in the... More...
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