 House Party 2: The Pajama Jam (1991) "Kid's college career gets off to a bad start when Play gives his tuition money to a shady record producer. Time for the biggest house party yet!" Is it just me, or does that sound totally sarcastic? At any rate, it doesn't really encapsulate the movie's tone, which is more or less serious, dealing with issues of consciousness-raising, bureaucracy, and indebtedness, both financial and interpersonal. The spirit of Pops hangs over the movie, which is actually dedicated to Robin Harris, who died before the filming of House Party 2 and is missed to this day. After Pop's death, Kid is given money by his church community to go to college, where he'll do them and Pop's memory proud by following the high road, not like Play, who follows the low road. Tisha Campbell is back as Sidney, who this time around begins to fall under the influence of her evolved roommate Zora, played by Queen Laitifah just past the prime of her rap career but at the dawn of her acting career. Martin Lawrence is back in a retooled character that is more of a wise-ass and less of a whipping-boy for the two leads, and he's pretty damn funny throughout. Also present is Iman as the aforementioned "shady record producer" and Full Force, returning as the Three Stooges of 90s black cinema. One of the funniest scenes occurs early in the film when Kid arrives at school ready to greet his roommate, and enters his dorm room to the music of Gil Scott-Heron ("Johannesburg") and a room full of black culture totems, his roomamate turning around to reveal he's white (yet blacker than Kid). It's one of the more hilarious role-reversals in the movie, which seems intent on not stereotyping anyone and surprisingly treats this wannabe character with respect rather than ridicule. The first part of the movie deals with Kid and Sidney (Campbell, slightly less delightful than in the first House Party) adjusting to the changes of college life, meeting new people and opening their minds to black history and feminism. Kid has one of those inspirational professors who really connect with their students, and he pushes Kid to succeed, as only happens in the movies. All my professers ever did for me was wake me up to tell me I was drooling on the priceless folios I checked out of the rare books room. The film probably revels a bit much in its college-movie cliches, but it pulls them off better than, say, John Singleton's miserable Higher Learning, which tries to do many of the same things but not nearly as honestly. After Play gives Kid's tuition check to Iman, a scam artist posing as a record producer, Kid is suddenly struggling to stay in school, battling a dean and his assistant, Full Force (now campus security guards), his professor, and his dining hall drill-sergeant boss. The authority figures are tempered with sensitivity, not coming off like the typical school movie authority-figures. As the movie draws on, it becomes clear to everyone that the only solution to Kid's struggle is a mammoth house party, dubbed a "pajama jam" because the honeys will show up in lingerie and the homies will pay some serious cash to get in and get down, if not get busy. Kid'N'Play are so successful at organizing this event that they get Tony Toni Toné and Ralph Tresvant to appear (fortunately this is not explained like in the episode of "Diff'rent Strokes" where Arnold feigned being sick to meet Muhammed Ali). And nowadays, I think even I could get Tony Toni Toné or Ralph Tresvant to appear at my own house party. I bet I could even hire Ralph Tresvant to clean up after one of my house parties. House Party 2 is much less frivolous than you'd expect, and the party hijinks are contextualized so as not to seem gratuitous. There are plenty of in-joke references to the first film, and most of the familiar faces return for this go-round. Like the first one, this one deals with race issues legitimately, not resorting to too much slapstick and actually providing some food for thought along the way. I try in vain to convince everyone how good these movies actually are, but all anyone thinks about is that high faded Afro. (Sigh.) People would probably take me more seriously if I didn't wear my hair that way.
Review by Damascus Obligato |