Black History Month Movie Reviews! ✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿

What’s up, y’all? As you already know, it’s Black History Month again, and this year, I’ve decided to review some black films to celebrate the occasion. I’m not doing a few each week or every day, though (shoot, the month is almost over). I’ll just do a few reviews of whatever movies with predominately black casts and/or black actors tickle my fancy. For my next post, I think I’ll review all Prince movies (even doggone Graffiti Bridge). What ‘chu think? With that being said, let’s go ahead and get this party started!

Carbon Copy

Carbon Copy tells the story of Walter Weisenthal aka Walter Whitney (George Segal), a successful executive who learns he has an illegitimate 17 yr. old black son named Roger (Denzel Washington, in his film debut). Once Walter learns of his son’s existence, and goes against his family’s advice by claiming Roger, his life immediately takes a downward spiral.

Y’all, Carbon Copy is a trip. What makes the movie funny is the fact that the Caucasians in the film—Walter included—are as simple and racist AF. There’s no other way to say it. There’s even a scene where Walter tries to convince his wife to take in Roger because they “owed it to black people” (Lord…), to which she promptly replies, “When will we stop owing? They already have welfare, low-rent housing, special job programs, and four of their own television series!” Wow. We really had skin in the game. By the way, I looked it up; the four TV series she was referring to during this time period (Carbon Copy was made circa 1981, the year I was born!) were Diff’rent Strokes, The Jeffersons, Benson, and Soul Train. What really got me was that for the vast majority of the movie, Walter is more comfortable with Roger calling him “Mr. Charlie” than Dad. For those of you that don’t know, “Mr. Charlie” is a racial slur against white people. SMH.

Denzel is pretty hilarious in this movie, too. His reactions to Walter’s swift downfall help make the movie as well. It’s funny that Denzel hasn’t starred in more comedic roles (no pun intended). He’s only been in three comedies throughout his entire career, Carbon Copy included. Naturally, Denzel shows his true acting chops toward the end of the movie when he and Walter have a sincere heart-to-heart. The very first time I watched this film, I ended up seeing this particular scene and it moved me. Denzel’s talent and star power were evident even back then. On a side note, it’s a real treat seeing “Introducing Denzel Washington” in the opening credits. If only they knew…

I recommend this movie. It’s not the funniest film ever, but the laughs still hit nonetheless, and it teaches some insightful lessons on racism, societal norms, and stereotypes. What’s even better is that if you want to see Carbon Copy, it’s available on YouTube for free!

Jumping the Broom

In Jumping the Broom, wealthy yet sweet Sabrina Watson (Paula Patton) finally has the good fortune to meet the man she was meant to marry, Jason Taylor (Laz Alonzo), whose family comes from a lower-middle class background. Once all the members of the bride and groom’s respective families meet in Martha’s Vineyard for the wedding, chaos ensues.

When Jumping the Broom first came out in 2011, I figured it’d be a by-the-numbers unfunny comedy about two different worlds coming together just like Our Family Wedding, which was released the previous year. God, that movie was awful. On a side note, among the many things that bothered me about Our Family Wedding, one of the biggest issues was that Forest Whitaker’s character is supposed to be a ladies’ man. Now, no disrespect to Forest Whitaker, but I don’t buy him as a lothario. Just sayin’. Anyway, when I finally ended up watching the movie, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was well-acted as well as hilarious. I have to say though…this is one of two films where I couldn’t stand Loretta Devine’s character—the other being the movie Spell (if y’all haven’t seen that movie yet, please check it out). She is evil—not as evil as she was in Spell, but evil. I still cringe at some of the mess she perpetuates leading up to her son’s wedding. However, Jumping the Broom is a feel-good comedy, so despite how much Ms. Devine screws everything up, you can count on everything to be okay in the end.

Jumping the Broom’s quality has held up after all these years, and I still found myself cracking up at all the antics from the star-studded cast. Not only that, but I enjoyed the spiritual aspects of the movie (thanks, Bishop Jakes!). Yeah, it’s predictable, but most rom/coms like this are. That’s why we watch them. We want to see the happy ending and escape the sad things in life. Check it out if you haven’t already.

Malcolm X

That’s right, it’s another Denzel Washington movie! In Spike Lee’s Malcolm X, we see the life of the titular civil rights leader, from his childhood in Omaha, Nebraska, up until his untimely death by assassination in 1965.

Many believe Malcolm X to be Spike Lee’s magum opus, and I can’t really disagree with that (I put Do the Right Thing in that category as well). Malcolm X was released in 1992, and by that time, Denzel’s star power was well earned. However, this movie pushed him into legendary status thanks to his flawless performance. No offense to Al Pacino, but I still say that Denzel deserved the Oscar for this role. Everything about this movie was impeccable: the cast, the cinematography, the non-linear timeline, everything. The movie is a little over three hours long, but you barely notice the length of time. I honestly can’t think of any flaws in this film. To be honest, this mini-review doesn’t do Malcolm X justice. Out of all the movies I’ve reviewed in this post, this is the one I recommend the most. It’s perfect for Black History Month, seeing as it depicts the life of one of the greatest black leaders to walk the earth (yeah, I said it). You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and most importantly, you’ll learn more about who Malcolm X was. If you haven’t seen Malcolm X yet, watch it now!

—Written by Nadiya

What did you think about the movies I reviewed? Did you agree with my assessments? From the three out of the list, which ones have you already seen? Are you looking forward to the Prince movie post? Let me know in the comments section!