The Monkey Hustle (1976)

Well Deserved Praise

Too much of everything

Absolutely Fantastic

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

This movie sucks, lol. I've seen far better blaxploitation, and it's a wonder Rudy Ray Moore even lent his talent to this film, considering how good his own movies are. He must have been hard up or out of work, or doing charity because even he can't save this movie. Yeah the music sucks but that is the least of the problems in this film. It is good for showing 70s Chicago, which seemed a lot less overpopulated back then as the city more so resembles Philadelphia than it does the Chicago we take for granted today. If you're nostalgic for a blaxploitation film that was filmed in Chicago rather than New York or LA this is the movie for you, if not don't waste your time. You can watch it for free on Hulu.com if you're really interested, save your money ...

Although I found this movie entertaining, I'm afraid it made zero sense. How was anybody in the neighborhood capable of getting scammed by Daddy Foxx? Everyone in the neighborhood saw everybody else practically every day; couldn't they just get their money back the next day? And what was he supposed to be doing, anyways? Selling boxes? Who the hell was Goldie supposed to be, and what did Daddy Foxx have on him? What was the cop taking money for exactly, and why did he pay Baby D? How is it, at the end of the movie, that the bulldozers were already on the streets, ready to tear the town down, yet seconds later a fat guy pulls up in a limo and reverses the demolition? Long story short, this movie leaves many questions unanswered, but it did make me laugh a couple of times, so it got a 2.

Because I really have to throw up. Back in the seventies, there was a genre called Blaxploitation. Most of the films were utter trash. This is one of the trashiest! This film is pure garbage. Have you ever seen a play in a black-oriented neighborhood? You know, that over-acting kind of acting, similar to what's found on Good Times (TV show), full of stereotypical pimps, hustlers, theives, welfare recipients and too tight jeans. Just plain horrible. A waste of film.

When I give a movie a 4, I mean it is really bad. This is the kitchen sink mentality of these movies with the violence, glamour and pimps all taken out. Instead we have a now very dated formula of a small time hustler hanging around a group of kids with oversized afros and egos. The best part of it, is Rudy Ray Moore(Dolemite) appearing as Goldie featuring a shirt made out of gold chains, whether hes a hustler, gangster, pimp or leader we will never know. But he steals the show withs his larger than life, style (You're my main man!!). The children do little more than try to make money and use outdated jive lines such as "Slick the slick" and there are the antics of a 12 or 13 year old boy called the kid who has a gang of synchopant kiddies who hang around trying out all sorts of nickel and dime shit. It is funny at least in its use of the cheesiest disco soundtrack possible. The roller skating scene is very funny with the disco music heavy on wah wah guitar and kids with oversized afros and flares dancing around in a bright red rink. The kids fight and steal but there is no real violence or sex involved. Overall the acting is cardboard, storyline tapering and a piece of claptrack that is an embarassment from start to finish. Its only saving graces may be the Keystone cop and Goldie, otherwise its schtick. I think too it portrays African Americans as greedy and over sexed simpletons who just want to make money and have a good time.