ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, May 3, 1996 TAG: 9605030094
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 6 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
"The Great White Hype" is a wonderfully nasty and often heavy-handed comedy that attacks the full spectrum of sacred cows - race, sports, money, journalism - and manages to offend just about everybody before it's over.
Black, white, Hispanic, Jew, rich, poor. Has anyone been left out?
The setting is the world of heavyweight boxing, that arena where the worst aspects of American athletics, spectacle and greed come together.
"Grim Reaper" Roper (Damon Wayans) is the undefeated champ, but his manager, Rev. Sultan (Samuel L. Jackson), is the real power. To appreciate Sultan, think equal parts Don King, Johnny Cochran and Ike Turner rolled into one wonderful scoundrel. Realizing that the heavyweight division is dying for lack of real competition, he decides to find a white challenger. Las Vegas hotel magnate Peter Prince (Corbin Bernsen) agrees to help.
"Irish" Terry Conklin (Peter Berg), who defeated Roper years ago as an amateur, is just what Sultan needs. Yes, Conklin is now a head-banging rocker who has never fought professionally, but so what? His skin is the right color. Surely, Sultan tells his flunkies Jon Lovitz and Cheech Marin, there's some way to turn this guy into a "legitimate contender."
But lurking just outside is a "free-lance crusader" (Jeff Goldblum) who's threatening to rip the lid off of the whole sordid business.
Neither Wayans nor Berg looks at all like a real heavyweight, though the high-pitched little voice Wayans uses does sound suspiciously like Mike Tyson. Jackson is the star here, and he gets every ounce of energy and flamboyance from his cagy anti-hero. If the film had tried to get inside his mind, it might have had something more constructive to say.
Writers Ron Shelton ("Bull Durham," "White Men Can't Jump") and Tony Hendra, ex-editor of "Spy" magazine, treat the sport with a contempt it rarely receives. And because their main subject is racism in its most popular forms - white-on-black, black-on-white, black-on-black - they leave themselves open to criticism. Director Reginald Hudlin ("House Party," "Boomerang") handles the material with the same in-your-face attitude. From the opening shot of scorpions in the desert to the garish fight itself, complete with midgets and a kid in a wheelchair at ringside, every laugh comes with a sharp edge of discomfort.
Moviegoers looking for another "Rocky" will not be amused.
The Great White Hype ** 1/2
A 20th Century Fox release playing at the Valley View 6. 88 min. Rated R for strong language, violence.
LENGTH: Medium: 52 linesby CNB