Michael Neumann 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 episodic plot stars Townsend himself as an aspiring actor forced to endure a series of absurd auditions and interviews, at one point being blatantly judged by his ability to imitate Eddie Murphy. 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. The more straightforward dramatic scenes make less of an impression, but at least illustrate the point that racial typecasting is a ridiculous practice. In all it's a valuable lesson from a natural comic talent, and a humorous insider's guide to an industry where equal opportunity hasn't evolved much since the days of D.W. Griffith.

jodimoran If you're looking for a review that makes you laugh out loud with its eviscerating witticisms and memorable one-line slams, then skip to another review now. I don't write many of these things, but love this movie enough to take the time to add my 2 cents here. Hollywood Shuffle is one of my Xmas presents to myself this year (its 20 year anniversary...and thank goodness for Amazon's overseas deliveries!) and I just finished watching it with my daughter. Townsend's sentimentality and gentle sense of humor are old friends and I'm looking forward to sharing this movie with as many people as I can. Living overseas as a high school teacher since '99 has been interesting, especially in terms of the view of African Americans. It's funny, but teens overseas tend to think of actors like Will Smith, singers like Beyonce' or 50 Cent, and sports stars like…well, insert-familiar-name-here, whenever they think of blacks in the states. Hollywood Shuffle, with its sentimental depiction of a fatherless working class family and a young man pursuing his dream, speaks to teens of all ethnicities, and touches on the timeless themes of self-respect, the importance of family and coming of age. There's more here than just a running gag of ethnic stereotyping in Hollywood (easy enough to do, and particularly relevant a decade on from the Roots frenzy), and part of this depth is Townsend's ability to play with irony. In his dreams of breaking free of the choke-hold of ethnic stereotypes, Bobby dreams of passing beyond the white velvet rope into the land of superhero, macho and international stereotypes. Why can't he fight for truth & justice while wearing tights? "Bed" a woman on his desk? Or be a classically trained thespian with a Queen's English accent? And part of the humor in his stand-up shtick was Townend's contrast between what we saw and what we heard, particularly with the proper English accent. I've turned a class of 8th graders on to Undercover Brother, and now I think it's going to be interesting to have that same class of Chinese, Korean, Indian and British boys watch this film. I think it will move them, touch their hearts AND provide them with laughs. Like it's done me.

Joseph P. Ulibas Hollywood Shuffle (1987) was the directorial debut of Actor/ Director Robert Townshend. His self financed film Hollywood SHUFFLE pokes fun at the struggles many black actors face whilst looking for an acting career in Hollywood. It's sad as well because many of these stereotypes are still true to this day. While progress has been made in the American Movie Industry, they still need to make more progress. 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. But when he tries out for roles, he meets a lot of stumbling blocks. Many of these are about his racial background (i.e. he's not black enough, he's too black, doesn't act black, etc. etc.). Eventually he's offered a role but will he throw away his dignity to accept it? Can young Robert make it in Hollywood without "selling out"? Will his peer drag him down? To find out you'll just have to watch Hollywood SHUFFLE.Highly recommended film.

manalone923 Don't get me wrong- I wanted to like this movie. Robert Townsend is thoroughly believable and sympathetic in the role, and I liked him quite a bit. 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. The movie then goes into his fantasy and enacts it for us, usually with him playing one of the characters in it. This wouldn't be so bad except for three main issues: The fantasies occur pretty often, usually about every ten or 15 minutes. They are usually silly and cliched, taking away from the more interesting and serious main storyline. The third and worst aspect of the fantasy gimmick is that they are just plain long. When Townsend overhears a conversation about black movie critics, for example, he thinks about it and we see a visualization of his thoughts, two black critics in a theater. You'd expect this to have a joke or two, then get back to Townsend. 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. It could just be my personal opinion, but I really didn't like any of the fantasies (especially a private detective one, which drags on for something like ten or 15 minutes). There was one exception, the first fantasy of the movie, where a fake school for black film stereotypes is advertised. This was the only dream sequence that was any good, because it takes very harsh jabs at black stereotypes. "I got to play 5 muggers, and a rapist!" Says one black hopeful. Another one is being taught how to walk "black" by a white instructor. "Call 1-800-555-Coon!" the ad flashes. 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. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie falls pretty flat, due to the fact that none of the other fantasies had the wit of the first, or told it in such a sharp way. 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. He wants badly to be an actor, make it in the business, and fulfill his dream. The problem is that the role he's hoping for is unfortunately quite racist in its portrayal of blacks as sniveling, cowardly, primitively speaking brutes who are engaged in a weapon fight. He must decide whether his dreams are worth sacrificing his dignity, whether this chance at stardom is worth the hard first stepping stone.And had the movie spent more time on this, and much less on the wandering fantasies, it would have been much better. 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.