 House Party (1990) I would be remiss in reviewing House Party without quoting in its
entirety the Blockbuster Video summary that appears on its rental box:
"Rapper Kid sneaks out of the house to get down at the bash
thrown by fellow rapper Play. There they try to score with a couple of
home girls while avoiding cops, gangs and angry fathers."
That insulting
bit of corporate street-speak aside, House Party is a seriously good
movie, not at all what you'd expect if you haven't seen it and
continuously enjoyable upon repeat viewings. Its dated late 80's/early
90s elements (not the least of which is Christopher "Kid" Reid's
trademark tall fade, which in itself probably causes many people to
dismiss the movie outright) are ultimately no different from, say, the
period aspects of Sixteen Candles or The Breakfast Club, but House Party
is quite a bit better than either of those teen-fun films, and I'd even
go so far as to include it in my list of the ten best movies of the
90s. I know what you're thinking: "House Party? You're 'Kid'ding,
right?" Well, you should be ashamed of yourself for using a pun like that.
Essentially a vehicle for "middle-school" rappers Kid'N'Play,
House Party avoids the pitfalls of other movies written for musical
groups (we won't even talk about the Fat Boys movie Disorderlies or the
riotous Radiohead comedy Creeps) by offering a great supporting cast and
well-written characters for all involved. You'd think a rap act in
particular would want a crazy, self-glorifying storyline that would make
them out to be larger-than-life playas, but Kid'N'Play are given
realistic characters with simple aspirations and obstacles—school,
parents, girls, typical teen stuff. Kid in particular is surprisingly
vulnerable, and gets beat up several times in the course of the movie.
Play (Christopher Martin) is painted out like a self-centered scammer,
and the two of them in this movie have a bit of a friendship/rivalry
going, especially in terms of their rapping—at this point, Kid and Play
are not yet Kid'N'Play, see? But they'll be friends and partners 4ever
by the end of the night!
After Kid gets in a scuffle at school (with a trio of comedic
bullies played in Jheri-curled self-deprecation by Full Force), he is
worried that his Pops (Robin Harris, hilarious as always, but also
poignant and a bit menacing as a stressed single father) won't let him go
to Play's house party, so he sneaks out and decides to suffer the
consequences later. The whole movie takes place over the course of the
big night, with tons of hilarious set-pieces involving things like black
harrassment by white cops, George Clinton DJing a black-tie party, Martin
Lawrence getting dissed by just about everyone involved, and peeping-tom
voyeurism, all played out for genuine laughs rather than "kooky" belly
laughs. The cops are not portrayed entirely as stereotypical "white
cops," but they are pretty much bastards and get a nice comeuppance at
the end.
The supporting cast is awesome, particularly Harris and Tisha
Campbell, who is utterly transfixing as Sidney, a "home girl" interested
in Kid. Watching this movie you wonder why she's not a bigger star at
this point – oh yeah, I forgot: "Martin." Martin himself is in the
house, and this was in his "still funny" period, not his "bafflingly
insane" period. Director Reginald Hudlin doesn't go for too many easy
laughs, and the result is a kickin' comedy with a lot of heart and some
phat beats. And dated as it is, it's not Beat Street dated, and remains
a pleasure to see. Unfortunately, there is one boneheaded scene toward
the end involving Kid being threatened with prison cell rape (played off
like it's hilarious), replete with some miserable antigay language,
precisely no different from those excised blackface scenes from old 40s
movies that you see every now and then that make you think "I can't
believe they would put that into a movie—and it was a popular movie!"
Without that scene, I'd rate this a bit higher, but I can't let that slip, it's almost as bad
as some of Eddie Murphy's "faggot" routines.
House Party was so successful that it launched big careers for
virtually all of its cast, although that probably ultimately backfired
against Kid'N'Play themselves, who don't really have any credibility at
this point and are more or less punchlines (but I must remind you that
the tall fade was considered very cool at the time). But more props to
them for making a great movie that will hold up over time rather than a
cheesy cash-in. This is one of my favorite films, never taken
very seriously but deserving of some reassessment. Plus it never hurts
to kick it once in awhile.
Review by Dawson S. Creake |