Dave Chappelle's Block Party Review
This modest but intensely likeable celebration of hip-hop is smartly built around the warm, relaxed accessibility of Dave_Chappelle's onscreen persona. Rather than simply build to and then show the concert performances in full, it cuts back and forth between Chappelle's preparations, backstage patter, and comic stream-of-conscious camera monologues. Some of the most amusing sequences take place in Ohio when Dave hands out tickets and interacts with local shopkeepers and pre-concert footage in which Chappelle acts is a go-between as both enthused fan and celebrity. Director Michel_Gondry seemingly shares a whimsical propensity with Chappelle, but, besides the balloon letters springing onscreen during the opening credits sequence, his visual eccentricities are discarded for a straightforward cinéma vérité approach. The shooting of many of the musical performances feels like an afterthought and they aren't always shown in full, but highlights include a diva face-off between Jill_Scott and Erykah_Badu over the vocal hook in the Roots' "You Got Me," Dead_Prez storming the stage to "Turn off the Radio" and "Hip Hop," and Kanye_West's marching band-led entrance to "Jesus Walks." The only disappointment is the Fugees' slightly flat reunion, an anticlimax to a film that captures the sunny spontaneity (despite the rain) of a block party at its life-affirming best. Michael Buening, Rovi
Browse More Movies:
