Baadasssss!

Name: Baadasssss!
Genre: Biography, Drama
Released: May 28, 2004
Rating: 75
Cast: Joy Bryant, Mario Van Peebles, Nia Long, Ossie Davis

2004

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 39 Ratings

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8.3

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8.3	User Score Universal acclaim based on 39 Ratings

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Baadasssss

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Movie Details & Credits

Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: May 28, 2004 | R

Starring: Joy Bryant, Mario Van Peebles, Nia Long, Ossie Davis

Summary: Mario Van Peebles directs an honest and revealing portrait of his pioneering father Melvin. (Sony Pictures Classics)

Director: Mario Van Peebles

Genre(s): Biography, Drama

Rating: R

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Critic Reviews

100

Roger Ebert

What's fascinating is the way Mario, working from his father's autobiography and his own memories, has somehow used his first-hand experience without being cornered by it. Read full review

Premiere Aaron Hillis

The mood never droops, however, saved by Mario’s well-studied ability to channel his father, a performance as delicately nuanced and polished as the film is frenetic and raw. Read full review

Marc Mohan

Compelling both as a chronicle of guerrilla filmmaking and as a son's movie about his father, it presents a clear-eyed, warts-and-all view of artistic obsession. Read full review

Bill White

Mario Van Peebles, bearing an uncanny resemblance to his father, illuminates the soul of a man driven by a belief in himself and a love for his community. Read full review

Elizabeth Weitzman

Both public tribute and private therapy session, Baadasssss! should have been a self-conscious disaster. By confronting his past with wit and style, Van Peebles has instead created a meta-cool history lesson and homage. Read full review

Kevin Thomas

In its spirit and execution, Baadasssss! lives up to its forebear. Read full review

Michael O'Sullivan

While the younger Van Peebles certainly looks the part, Baadasssss! never feels like anything more than kids playing dress-up. Read full review

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User Reviews

Spangle

Apr 18, 2016

Baadasssss! is a great look at the struggles faced by Mario Van Peebles' father, Melvin, in the making of his film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song in 1971. An endearing film from a son about his father, Baadasssss! can be pretty abrasive as it starts, which is appropriate given theBaadasssss! is a great look at the struggles faced by Mario Van Peebles' father, Melvin, in the making of his film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song in 1971. An endearing film from a son about his father, Baadasssss! can be pretty abrasive as it starts, which is appropriate given the subject. However, as you get the hang of things, the unique style and half-documentary/half-biopic approach becomes as cool and endearing as the star. However, the film is not afraid to criticize its subject and shows his anger and negative actions that led to people plain disliking him. Yet, at the end, you still find yourself rooting for him entirely and hoping his film takes off, even if everybody wrote it off as "dangerous". For this, Baadasssss! is an effective and thoroughly enjoyable biopic that feels like a redemption/feel good story at the end of the day.… Expand

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ChadS.

Jul 26, 2006

"Badasssss!" uses an ongoing oral history as told by the actors, but it's doubtful anybody would have minded if the filmmaker borrowed "American Splendor['s]" technique of using actual documentary footage within the film's narrative. Better yet, tell the story sans running "Badasssss!" uses an ongoing oral history as told by the actors, but it's doubtful anybody would have minded if the filmmaker borrowed "American Splendor['s]" technique of using actual documentary footage within the film's narrative. Better yet, tell the story sans running commentary. In spite of this distraction, "Badassss!" tells an important truth about independent film; that it wasn't John Sayles who followed in the immediate footsteps of John Cassavettes. "Sweetback's Badassss Song" preceeded "The Return of the Secaucus Seven" by nine years. Ironically, however, this movie will probably age better than the revolutionary film that inspired it. No disrespect. The same thing would happen if somebody made a film about Lizzie Borden("Born in Flames").… Expand

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