Product Details

• Actors: Eddie Griffin, Denise Richards, Aunjanue Ellis, Chris Kattan, Dave Chappelle
• Directors: Malcolm D. Lee
• Writers: John Ridley, Michael McCullers
• Producers: Bill Carraro, Brian Grazer, Damon Lee, Dana Robin, John Ridley
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: June 3, 2003
• Run Time: 86 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (156 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000077VT0
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #207,788 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Blaxploitation movies deserve a good spoofing, and Undercover Brother tweaks the subgenre with a few good laughs. But what might have been an Afro-centric Austin Powers (adapted by John Ridley from his Internet film series) is instead a lackluster comedy with one basic joke: "Whitey"--personified as a faceless corporate despot known as "the Man"--has the power, but black folks have soul. With enough funk to make Shaft look passé, Eddie Griffin plays "U.B." with an oversized 'fro and a firm grasp of comedic possibilities. He's recruited by the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. (an all-black justice league) to foil the Man's plan to derail a Colin Powell-like presidential candidate (Billy Dee Williams), and U.B.'s undercover exploits keep the slim plot moving. Denise Richards and Neil Patrick Harris are gamely ridiculed as token white allies, and it's all in good fun as director Malcolm D. Lee (Spike's cousin) finds room for mild jolts of relevant social commentary. --Jeff Shannon

From The New Yorker

A comedy that tries for the cheesy innocence of the blaxploitation movies it both worships and mocks: "Foxy Brown," "Shaft in Africa," and others. The premise: in the latter half of the twentieth century, an enigmatic mastermind known only as "the Man" has been undermining the potency of black culture-the only reasonable explanation for the descent from Jim Brown to Urkel. From this solid beginning, the movie doesn't exactly go on to chart new satiric territory; the screenwriters serve up racial humor of the Caucasians-can't-dance variety. The best sequences are when Undercover Brother (Eddie Griffin) disguises himself as Anton Jackson, a white-acting black man unafraid of mayonnaise and mock turtlenecks. Near the end, there's also a brilliant moment involving Chris Kattan and a shark, but much of the film is hit or miss. With David Chappelle as the paranoid Conspiracy Brother and the former Bond girl Denise Richards as White She Devil. -Michael Agger
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 70's Afro Flashback, October 14, 2002

By 

Reta Renee Schiber (Collinsville, IL) - See all my reviews
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This movie was hilarious--to me. But I was a member of that generation. Big afro, platform shoes and "hot pants." Being a bourgeois black pronouncing my E's and R's, I made them cringe when I said the N-word. So this movie was terribly funny to me. My hat's off to Malcolm Lee for having the courage to make such a film. One IMDB reviewer who complained of having been offended by white jokes doesn't have any idea of just how offensive a great deal of this was to some black viewers. Suggesting that all types of black men, no matter how hip and politically savvy, fantasize about white women took guts. Many people, especially younger ones will not see the humor. But I laughed all the way through it. All power to the people. Right on, my brother.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smart comedy uses '70s blaxploitation as springboard..., June 4, 2002

By 

Mark Savary "moon_city" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
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If you're a fan of those '70s blaxploitation movies like "Shaft", "Black Caesar", or "Foxy Brown", then this send-up movie will be drop-dead hilarious. But, even if you don't like those kind of films, this is still one smart comedy worth a look. The movie uses the blaxsploitation style as a springboard to discuss racial stereotyping. And guess what? It WORKS!

Right from the opening credits with the '70s styling and retro alphabet they used, right through to the the few comedy snippets in the closing credits (stay and watch how Undercover Brother parks his car!), the movie will have you hooked and keep you hooked.

A cross between those '70s movies, James Bond, and even a touch of "Naked Gun", "Undercover Brother" really delivers the laughs, as the pure 1970's retro and funky Undercover Brother joins up with the BROTHERHOOD to stop the evil plans of "The Man" and his henchmen. Billy Dee Williams plays a Colin Powell-like war hero who is in line to become the first black President before The Man steps in to stop him, and James Brown cameos.

What makes the movie work so well is that, instead of getting all PC and shying away from racial stereotypes, the film throws them right in your face to show just how stupid they are. Another thing I like is that the film does not just center on the stereotypes that white people have; stereotypes that black people have about whites get -- er, equal treatment, so to speak. This gives the film an even-handed approach, where most filmmakers would have just tried to get mileage out of '70s jokes, or jokes aimed at white people.

I noted that the audience was equally mixed at the showing I went to see, and the African Americans laughed just as hard as me, if not harder. Even as a white guy, I got a real kick out of Undercover Brother and the BROTHERHOOD as they were "takin' it to The Man", and you will, too.

Smart comedies are pretty rare these days, so either get thee to the theater, or wait and get the DVD! You'll want to keep this one!

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Whitey liked this movie, October 18, 2004

By 

Robin Orlowski "political activist" (United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Undercover Brother (Widescreen Collector's Edition) (DVD)

Grimacing through Austin Powers's admittedly garish fest of sex and bathroom jokes, I was initally hesitant about this movie, but decided to give it a chance. Unlike the former, this retro-spy movie spoof is Dynomite in both inside references (everything from Colonel Sanders to The Incredible Hulk) and script.

The B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. sends it's top Agents Undercover Brother and Sistah Girl out after General Boutwell has been kidapped and brainwashed to uncritically accept mainstream white culture. The agents must find the substance responsible for the transformation, stop The Man from producing/distributing it, and then reverse the effects of "Opperation Whitewash". Undercover Brother must also watch out for the deadly powers of 'White She Devil' (Dennise Richards).

Best known as 'Doogie Howser' Neil Patrick Harris does an excellent job as Lance, the International Brotherhood's token white guy. Because Lance is one of those 'effeminate' men he cannot exploit black people the way other white men (such as those working for The Man) do. Lance initially considers himself an open-minded person, but this internship teaches him there is still lots of injustice in the world---and he has a role to play in working against it. Having grown up watching Harris on the small screen, seeing his range of comedic acting in this film was a pleasure.

The only thing seemingly out of kilter was the inclusion of Michael Jackson's 1980's hit "Beat It" in the climactic fight scene near the movie's end. Both the 1970's feel of the movie and Jackson's current status as racially ambigious make that track selection puzzling. Surely there was simmilar mood music from the 1970's.