The Great White Hype
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Plot outline: Samuel Jackson plays an unscrupulous boxing promoter who pits a white underdog against the black heavyweight champ in order to stir up a racist frenzy of promotion. That's the whole plot--the rest is padding
Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Jeff Goldblum, Damon Wayans, Peter Berg, Jon Lovitz, John Rhys-Davies, Cheech Marin, Jamie Foxx and Method Man
Crew: Written by Ron Shelton and directed by Reginald Hudlin
The critics:
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"The Great White Hype is like a runner who leads for the first part of the race and then runs out of gas. It starts out well, as a wicked satire on professional boxing, and then loses its energy, tires of juggling its characters and ends so abruptly at 91 minutes that it feels like the last reel is missing. The premise and the performances deserve better"
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
- "It's worth catching just for Samuel L. Jackson's gaudy grandstanding as a Don King-style hustler"
Susan Wloszczyna, USA today
- "Saying this film is a mess is a bit of an understatement. It's one long, drawn-out Don King press conference, expanded into a two hour film"
Mr. Cranky, Mr. Cranky rates the movies
My Jacksonometer:
2 out of 5. Jackson is the saving grace of this movie, especially after Lovitz disappears. Ron Shelton's script is poorly written, as always, and though the movie is funny in parts, as a whole it's a plain disappointment. Jackson is having a blast as the Reverend Fred Sultan though, and adds yet another freaky character to his resume. Only worth the time if you are a Jackson-fan or if you really have nothing better to do.
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