|
From
Film
"Who's Your Caddy?" Flops: Opens to Dismal Box Office, Poor Reviews and Controversy
By
Jul 31, 2007, 22:39
America wasn't laughing this weekend. "Who's Your Caddy?" the much anticipated
first film from Our Stories Films (a partnership between BET founder
Bob Johnson and the Weinstein Bros. and run by Tracey Edmonds to produce
urban family comedies that tell 'our' stories) opened this weekend with an estimated $2.9
million, averaging only $2,846 from 1,019 screens. No one should be surprised that in addition to the poor box office showing, the film's insultingly stereotypical content and creative team (a white writer/director) have come under fire.
The film is about a superstar rap mogul, C-Note (Big Boi), who runs into fierce opposition
when he tries to join the super stuffy Carolina Pines Golf and Polo
Club. Undeterred, C-Note gets the brilliant idea to buy the land
adjacent to the golf club's 17th hole, which he cleverly leverages to
gain membership. C-Note's crew wreaks havoc as they bring their
larger-than-life style to the club. As the club's hoighty-toighty
leadership desperately tries to revoke C-Note's membership, our hero
realizes that his family's honor – and secret record-breaking golf
history – is at stake. As he takes on the fight of his life, C-Note
pulls out all of the stops to bring down the club's backwards
establishment and welcome them to the 21st century.
Full of crass racial stereotypes including crude, lewd and wantonly
irresponsible black characters, fart jokes, midget jokes and
never-ending slapstick humor, if this demeaning movie had been made by
mainstream Hollywood, it would be courting charges of racism.
Moreover, many are questioning the choice to launch the new studio with a project written and directed by a white man (Don Michael Paul).
During an
interview at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel last week, I asked Edmonds why hire a white writer/director for the first film out of Our Stories
Films if the point is to tell 'our' stories. She vehemently defended the
companies' choice and tried
to explain: "Our mission is to really make sure that our characters -
at least a lead or co-lead - is a person of color. Crew-wise we had a
lot of African American working on the crew; the executive producers,
Shakim [Compere] and Queen Latifah, are African American," she said.
"One thing I don't want to do is do reverse-discrimination against
people who are bringing projects in just because the color of their
skin. I didn't have a reservation because the writer/director was
white. The story is something that I think appeals to people of color."
She went on to explain: "There are definitely a lot of eyes on the
studio. It's historical. It's the first time African Americans have had
their own studio; it's the first time that people of color can
greenlight their own films and decide what goes on the big screen. So,
we have a lot of responsibility and we want to do films with positive
messages. But at the same time, we want to entertain and make people
feel good. We're really trying to be in business with A-List talent,
but also discover some new talent and open doors for people of color in
front of the camera and behind the camera as well."
With all of her good intentions, Edmonds' explanation didn't go over
well with the film critics in the room and neither the mainstream or
black press were impressed. If you don't believe me, just check out
these reviews ...
Total duffer stuck in the rough in "Who's Your Caddy?"
By Roger Moore
The Orlando Sentinel
What Tiger Woods giveth, Faizon Love taketh away.
The estimable Mr. Woods may have shown black America that the game isn't just for badly dressed white men anymore.
But "Who's Your Caddy?" a class-war comedy that's more about having no
class than it is about breaking through class barriers, rolls the
country-club clock back 20 years. It's staggering how little ambition
the formerly aim-high Outkast crew showed with this limp "Caddyshack"
knock-off.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/movies/2003809359_caddy28.html
In depressing 'Who's Your Caddy?,' stereotypes are par for the course
By Wesley Morris, The Boston Globe Staff | July 28, 2007
"Who's Your Caddy?" never gives us a credible rapping golfer, but it
does bring us closer to a "Disorderlies 2" than previously seemed
possible.
If you don't recall, "Disorderlies" starred the Fat Boys as nincompoop
nurses to poor Ralph Bellamy. Twenty years and several rap generations
later, Antwan Andre Patton -- a.k.a. Big Boi a.k.a. half of the
esteemed duo OutKast -- stars as C-Note, a hip-hop mogul who wants to
join a South Carolina country club that is the last bastion of
good-ol'-boy exclusivity. This place doesn't want Bill and Hillary; why
would it want only 50 percent of OutKast.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2007/07/28/in_depressing_whos_your_caddy_stereotypes_are_par_for_the_course/
Who's Your Caddy"
The Houston Chronicle
July 27, 2007, 2:29PM
There is laughter in Who's Your Caddy? but it's the seasick,
embarrassed laughter stirred up by crass racial stereotypes and
misogyny. The film pilfers Caddyshack's slobs-vs.-snobs premise, but
contrasting the original with this film is like comparing an Olympic
high diver with an obese man doing a belly flop in a kiddie pool.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/movies/reviews/5005985.html
Review: 'Caddy' belongs to the country dud
Dallas Morning News
01:43 PM CDT on Saturday, July 28, 2007
By Colin Covert / Minneapolis Star Tribune
There is laughter in Who's Your Caddy? but it's the seasick,
embarrassed laughter stirred up by crass racial stereotypes and
misogyny. The film pilfers Caddyshack's slobs-vs.-snobs premise, but
contrasting the original with this film is like comparing an Olympic
diver with an obese man doing a belly flop in a kiddie pool.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/DN-caddy_0728gl.ART.State.Edition2.41f9108.html
The What and Why of ‘Who’s Your Caddy?’
By Darlene Donloe
LA Watts Times
When “Who’s Your Caddy?” comes out July 27, it won’t be just another opening of an urban comedy.
The release will, in fact, be historic.
That’s
because “Who’s Your Caddy?” is the first feature film release of the
newly formed Our Stories Films, a film studio catering to urban
audiences and the only studio in the country at which African Americans
are responsible for greenlighting projects. This is the first of the
company’s slate of family-friendly comedies.
While that is
certainly a cause for celebration, the studio is already mired in
controversy because of the nature of its first film, as well as who
wrote and directed the movie.
http://www.lawattstimes.com/articles/2007/07/26/arts_and_culture/arts_and_culture1.txt
© Copyright 2003 by blacktalentnews.com
| 
