Hollywood Shuffle

Bobby is a struggling black actor. The few roles offered by white movie writers and producers reek of artifice: punks, pimps, sassy soul brothers and Eddie Murphy clones. What's a man to do? Townsend's satire may be gentle, but more often than not it's spot on. As Bobby (Townsend) escapes the sad reality of racial stereotyping through daydreams that expose the absurdity of whites telling blacks how to be Black, we're treated to visions of a Black Acting School (learn how to play a yodelling butler Stepin Fetchit-style), a truly noir TV-noir (Sam Ace in Death of a Breakdancer), and best of all, a Bros' version of a Bazza Norman-type movie round-up. Despite the film's conspicuously minuscule budget and shaky narrative structure, it is funny. If you value enthusiasm and imagination more than glossy sophistication, you'll laugh.