A group of white high school teens become involved with Harlem's black hip-hop crowd.
Writer/Director: James Toback
Stars: Ben Stiller, Allan Houston, Claudia Schiffer, Robert Downey Jr., Brooke Shields, Mike Tyson, Elijah Wood.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165643/
Watched online, mediocre print.
37 songs in the Soundtracks; I remember seeing maybe 1 performed onscreen.
The synopsis above describes the first 2/3rds or more of the film, but then it devolves into a plot involving CS & BStiller that has nothing to do with that. They are former gf/bf, and he manipulates things so she gets her new bf killed, and he tries to use photos of the killer (estranged son of the DA) to get the DA to throw out some other case that will come across his desk. Huh?
Along the way, we hear a black character is unhappy with the white rich kids trying on their culture.
BShields is (pretending to be?) a grad student making a doc'y about the white rich kids who hang in Harlem with her tiny handheld video camera. RD is her gay husband, who tries to pick up on guys they encounter, and often gets shoved away, which he then asks if she got on video.
In a classroom scene, the teacher initiates a discussion of this black/white crossover. The class is small (20ish), and only 1 black student is visible. The white girl who was most visible in that part of the film says they're just trying it on, and won't stay with it in the long run.
The film does not follow characters for very long. We learn nothing about anyone.
MT plays himself, and several other black cast members are listed playing their own names as well.
Avoid.
Rated 5.0 (5,333)
distr. Sony, dir. Toback; 5
