HEFE'S REVIEW OF:
10,000 BLACK MEN NAMED GEORGE (2002)

OPENING THOUGHTS

    Recently I was accused of not watching enough ethnic movies, I was backed into a corner and quickly tried to explain that it wasn't true and asked if Black Gangbangers 7 counted as an ethnic movie... to my surprise it didn't. So finally I just asked what movie I should watch to make myself a little less white, thus this movie worked it's way into my hands, so this one goes out to Tickle reader Stan, enjoy!

ACTING

    ANDRE BRAUGHER took on the role of Asa Philip Randolph a man who has been working his whole life for black rights and failing. He is convinced to try one last time at forming a black union for the porters of the Pullman Rail Company. He actually does a great job in this film, his acting is strong and he gives off the vibe of a leader. I think he would make a good principal of a school, he should look into that, Hollywood is always looking to make another movie about one man who believes in class full of "losers" that everyone else has given up on.
    CHARLES S. DUTTON was my favorite part of the movie, he did a great job, he was funny, angry, and pleasantly plump. Every time he was on screen I found myself watching him, more than anyone else, and he lightened up the movie a great deal.
    MARIO VAN PEEBLES on the other hand was the weakest part of this movie by far, and interestingly enough he is the most famous. I have never really been a fan of his, maybe part of it is the fact that I hate his name, maybe the other part is because he usually can't act for shit. Yeah I think it's more the acting thing.
    THE SUPPORTING CAST was mostly mediocre, but there was one stand out performance that I really must mention, and that is Brock Peters. He played Leon, the old guy, and he did an incredible job. His emotion, his facial expressions, even the way he flared his nostrils, it was all good. I wish he was my grandpa...

DIRECTION AND SCRIPT

    ROBERT TOWNSEND, or Meteor Man as I like to call him, directed this movie, and the direction of this film was not it's strongest point, but to be fair it wasn't the weakest either. The major directing flaw in this was the pacing, the pacing really could have used some tweaking, I think that would have helped it out a lot. The other thing that would have helped this movie was a bigger budget, but that is not the director's fault per say, but I didn't know where else to write it. The quality in general of the film was low, but considering it was a Showtime TV movie, I guess you have to expect that going in.
    CYRUS NOWRASTEH wrote this film and it was an interesting story to write a screenplay about. The story is the part I love, after all as many of you know I am a huge history buff, but... the dialogue was weird to me. It seemed as if there was no attempt to have people talk as they did back in the 20's and 30's, which is odd because they tried so hard to recreate everything with the costumes and sets. I especially like the line: "You and me, we are the same, I just like money and pussy a lot more than you." Now call me crazy but I don't think they used the term "pussy" when describing a woman's love box back then... did they?

THE VERDICT

    This is a very interesting story that was hampered by Mario Van Peebles, below average dialogue, and a low budget. But this is still a movie worth seeing, especially if you enjoy history as much as I do, or if someone ever accuses you of not watching enough ethnic movies. Maybe one day they will remake this movie with a bigger budget and Brad Pitt, then it would really be an ethnic movie.
 
 

THIS FILM HAS BEEN RATED

C+
 This is enjoyably average.
Let's face it, it could have been a lot worse.
TO VIEW OUR RATING SYSTEM CLICK HERE
 

DISAGREE? HAVE A QUESTION OR A REQUEST?
TELL HIM!
hefe@hollywoodguys.net
 


FOLLOW US ON

GET INSTANT ACCESS TO NEW REVIEWS, MOVIE NEWS AND FAN DISCUSSIONS