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	Baadasssss!
	Mario Van Peebles Mario Van Peebles, Ossie Davis, David Alan Grier, Nia Long, Joy Bryant, Paul Rodriguez, Rainn Wilson, Khleo Thomas, Saul Rubinek, Vincent Schiavelli, Terry Crews, T.K. Carter, Sally Struthers, Adam West, Glenn Plummer 2003		When Mario Van Peebles directed the urban crime thriller "New Jack City," he mixed hard-ass action, gangsta style and post-"Shaft" funk in impressive, street-smart fashion. It showed him to be the true, righteous progeny of his father: filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles, whose 1970 comedy "Watermelon Man" gleefully skewed racial stereotypes and made a profit for the studio that released it. Now, the child honors the parent and gives the public fresh insight into the movie biz with "Baadasssss!" This rough nugget is actor/director/screenwriter Mario's persuasive docudrama of Melvin's quest to make "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song," the landmark 1971 film that was the first crossover feature to have a strong African-American hero living outside the law and triumphing over the Man. Skillfully depicting Melvin's struggle to get his opus made and seen, "Baadasssss!" also shows the personal price paid by an artist so consumed with his work that it becomes obsession rather than vocation. Mario, pushed as a kid into playing young Sweetback in his dad's opus, portrays Melvin with charisma and passion in "Baadasssss!," much as Melvin played the adult Sweetback in the original. Unheralded talents Rainn Wilson, Nia Long, Joy Bryant and Khleo Thomas, and old pros such as Ossie Davis, David Alan Grier and Saul Rubinek, round out a fine cast.


	Sunday, November 17, 2024





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