The Original Kings of Comedy (2000)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Spike Lee

Writers:

Cedric the Entertainer (writer)
Steve Harvey (writer)

Release Date:

18 August 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Documentary

Tagline:

We Got Jokes.

Plot:

A concert film featuring four major African American stand up comedians.

Plot Keywords:

African American | Concert Film | Stuttering | Bullet Time | Racial Overtones

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Steve Harvey	...	Himself
D.L. Hughley	...	Himself
Cedric the Entertainer	...	Himself
Bernie Mac	...	Himself

Also Known As:

Kings of Comedy (USA) (working title)
Komedian kuninkaat (Finland) [fi]

MPAA:

Rated R for language and sex related humor.

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Canada:14A (video rating) | Australia:MA | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Charlotte Coliseum - 100 Paul Buck Boulevard, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Company:

40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks

Trivia:

Spike Lee shot the film on digital video over two nights.

Quotes:

Cedric the Entertainer: Never in history did you hear about 17 or 18 of us gettin' killed nowhere altoghether. 'Cuz we run. We run when somebody else runs. We don't ask no questions why we runnin', we just get our ass up and start damn running.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Boondocks: Return of the King (#1.9)" (2006)

HILARIOUS

I just got home from this flick and I loved it. Not so much a movie, but a filmed appearance of the four comedians (Steve Harvey, D. L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, and Bernie Mac) at a show in North Carolina. It has been my experience that "concert-comedy"-type movies can often be boring, certainly not matching the experience of actually seeing a comedian live. This was not the case with "Kings." Granted I was in a crowded theatre, but the expert direction by Spike Lee really pulls you in and makes you a part of the studio audience. Audience reaction shots and multiple-camera angles keep the viewing fresh and "behind the scenes" peeks all offer more than simply being there live would have. As far as laugh volume, this was the funniest movie I've ever seen. It has everything: swearing, raunchy sex jokes, clever comparisons between blacks and whites, pop culture jabs, and even some "insult comedy."

Each comedian does about a half-hour of material, but you'll wish they each got an hour at least. The soundtrack is excellent as well. Well, it's not technically a soundtrack, but the songs played in the stadium at the show were a great mix of old-school love songs and funk.

"The Original Kings of Comedy" is not a movie. It is a concert-comedy piece with elements of a documentary. After a lack-luster summer of gross-out comedy flicks, it was very nice to see genuinely talented and witty word-slingers come together with a consistently pleasing director in certainly the funniest movie of the summer. Maybe ever.