Please Note: Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE) has recently been added by Warner and Columbia to certain Region 1 DVD's. RCE will prevent the DVD from playing on some "Multi-Region" DVD players. If you are in any doubt that your player may not be able to play RCE DVD's, we recommend that you do not order this title, as we are unable to accept returned RCE DVD's.
Harvard-educated writer Pierre Delacroix (Damon Wayans), the only black employee on the staff of a struggling television network, suggests the most absurd idea for a pilot that he can possibly imagine, hoping it will convince his tyrannical boss, Dunwitty (Michael Rapaport), to terminate his contract and fire him. However, his plan backfires and his idea--"Mantan The New Millenium Minstrel Show"--is met with great success. The show is a stereotypical and racially charged depiction of the tap dancing Mantan (Savion Glover) and Sleep 'n' Eat (Tommy Davidson), two lazy, homeless black men who spend their days in a watermelon patch. As the show becomes a national sensation, Delacroix, his assistant Sloan Hopkins (Jada Pinkett), as well as her older brother, aspiring rapper Big Black Af' (Mos Def), begin to see the harm the show is causing the community, triggering outbursts with deadly consequences.
Shot on digital video, Lee uses his basic premise to mock and accuse today's entertainers (including Chris Rock, Ving Rhames, gangsta rappers, and Lee himself) for being modern reincarnations of the stereotypical caricatures that were so offensive in the past. The result is a commentary that is hysterical, absurd, and poignant.
