2002 / 83 Minutes / PG-13
Reviewed by Dale Nauertz

Every so often, a comedy comes along and takes you by surprise by being better than any such comedy has a right to be. “Undercover Brother” is, thankfully, one of those movies. Who would have thought that a movie that seemed to consist mostly of dorky white people and blaxpoitation jokes would have been so damn entertaining? I certainly didn’t.

The plot is pretty easy to follow. Using a secret fried chicken recipe, a villainous (and no doubt crusty) old, white dude is planning to brainwash powerful black people into behaving like dorky, white people. Apparently, this would destroy their ethnic culture and undermine their efforts of the past hundred years or so. Who can possibly stop this fiendish adversary? Why, an afro-wearing, funk-loving brother and do-gooder known as “Undercover Brother”, of course.

Eddie Griffin plays “Undercover Brother” with just the right amount of swagger and attitude. He’s a throwback to films like “Shaft” and “Dolemite”: a cool dude in an era where his coolness is no longer valued. But it ain’t no thang for him. He can still kick a fair share of ass and still get a nice piece of the action as far as the women are concerned. And he also has what it takes to join a top secret African American agency known as The B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D in their fight against The Man. With the help of such operatives as Conspiracy Brother (Dave Chappelle) and Sistah Girl (Aunjanue Ellis), he gets the job done. Despite the the efforts of the nefarious Mr. Feather (Chris Kattan) and the seductive Penelope Snow (Denise Richards) whom Feather nicknames “Black Man’s Kryptonite”.

“Undercover Brother” has enough social satire and attitude for about three movies. It may, at first, seem like a black man’s answer to Austin Powers, but it’s much sharper than either of those two movies were. This movie has spunk and tenacity and miles of laughs. I haven’t laughed this hard at the theater in ages. Though most of the jokes are contained mostly in the front of the film. But even at the end there are more than a couple belly laughs and chuckles to be had. Of the supporting players, I especially loved Dave Chappelle as Conspiracy Brother (this guy is becoming consistently hilarious, particularly from the fact that I can’t seem to keep myself from watching “Half Baked” over and over and over again) and Neil Patrick Harris as Lance, the organization’s token white guy. Neil Patrick Harris, best known as Doogie Howser, is just great in this film. It’s nice to see him working, and he’s a joy to behold here. And he’s got a great moment toward the end of the film that must be seen to be believed.

Sure, it’s silly. But that’s what makes it so great. It’s social satire that’s easy to take, and damn hilarious to boot. And it’s got the same playful enthusiasm as the first “Austin Powers” or “Zoolander”. If you’re in the mood for a good laugh, this is probably the best you’re going to do in the cinema these days. Solid.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 31st, 2002 at 2:00 pm and is filed under Dale's Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.