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STUDIO: Miramax
MSRP: $19.99
RATED: Unrated
RUNNING TIME: 89 min.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
• Deleted Scene
• Wayans Bros. Behind the Scenes
• Hood Movie Gumbo
Full title, for the record: Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the ‘Hood.
The Pitch
"With a title like this, who needs a script? Don’t answer that."
The Humans
Shawn Wayans (New Blood), Marlon Wayans (Dungeons & Dragons), Tracy Cherelle Jones (Love Chronicles), Suli McCullogh (Run Ronnie Run), Lahmard J. Tate (Barbershop), Keenen Ivory Wayans (The Glimmer Man), Bernie Mac (Guess Who), Antonio Fargas (Foxy Brown), several auxiliary Wayanses
Keenen’s episode of MTV Cribs never saw the light of day.
The Nutshell
The ‘Hood Movie’, typified by such films as Boyz N the Hood and Menace II Society, had barely established itself as a genre when this flick rolled around in 1996. Basically, this is just a series of sketches spoofing those movies, but it’s often hard to tell whether the end product comments on racial stereotypes or simply perpetuates them.
The Package
Anamorphic 1.85 transfer. Dolby 2.0. The featurettes date from the original release, and despite their short running times they recycle a lot of the same EPK footage. I don’t know what movie the deleted scene, “Interrogation”, was based on. Maybe that’s why it was cut.
The menu insert indicates which scenes have had ‘unrated’ material restored, so that should save you some time.
Granny would do anything for a little head.
A word on the box art: If you’re a Don’t Be a Menace O.G., you’ll remember that the original theatrical poster showed Marlon pulling a real gun instead of a Photoshopped Super Soaker. If this so-called Unrated Edition had any balls it would have used that art. But no, it caved to the Man. It acts like it’s all that until the shit comes down and then it hides under its momma’s bed. Feh.
At least they could have included a fold-out of the Po’Nopoly game.
The Lowdown
Watching this today, the most interesting thing about it is that after nearly ten years the movie quotations are past their shelf-life, but the references to real-life figures like O.J., Tyson, and Rodney King remain relevant. Most of the comedy is labored and obvious, but the angry material still works.
Bernie had trouble standing up straight before his Shawn removal.