Watch The Monkey Hustle For Free

That was an excellent one.

As Good As It Gets

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

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 ...

If a white producer and a white screenwriter got together to produce a film for a black audience anytime before the bicentennial, then this would be the product. The language and expressions are so exaggerated as to be excessively comic, then again perhaps this was the intended effect (though I doubt it).I'm reminded of the final scenes of Robert Townsend's "Hollywood Shuffle," where he plays a struggling actor who just got the lead in a low budget blaxpoitation production "Jive Time Jimmy's Revenge." Townsend is supposed to have an uncredited bit part in "The Monkey Shuffle," and one is almost certain that he was referencing the ridiculous direction given the actors in "The Monkey Shuffle." A true homage to demonstrate how shallow cross cultural understanding was at the time. An understanding made clear in this film.With lines like "You sho-is bad!" and "Yo my main man!" one can't help but wonder how the guys at MST3K missed "The Monkey Shuffle" (probably because of the race angle; it being bad form and all to make fun of a black, or blaxpoitation, film). The story revolves around a band of two-bit hustlers, shuckin' and jivin' their way to the big time. Only they're supposedly stymied by a municipal urban renewal plan, that bulldozes their base of operations. A plan that's supposed to put a highway through the neighborhood. Too bad this wasn't played up in the film, because if you miss the few minutes of dialogue and other exposition given to the plot you'll miss it entirely. Not that you really need to know it, because it's hardly significant in the story.There's lots of character development, but it's all one dimensional. The haircuts and costumes are laughable, and the plot doesn't come into play until the end of the film. Much of the movie is spent exploring the petty exploits of the "players," and "players" in training, and does nothing to develop either plot or story.Well, it's been a while since I've heard expressions like "sho 'nuff" or "turkey" or even "sucka," so from a linguistics point of view it was kind of fun seeing paleolithic jive talk in action, but beyond that there's not much to offer here.The film itself is supposed to be some kind of comedy, but I found myself hard pressed to laugh at anything other than the dated speech, costumes, and extreme mannerisms given by the characters.If you want to see Blaxpoitation, then rent one of the better known Pam Grier, Jim Kelley, or Shaft films. Your brain'll thank you for it.

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.

Story takes place in Chicago involving a hustler (Yaphet Kotto), who recruits four teenagers to perform rip-offs for him in exchange for pocket money. The other central point is a soul food restaurant owned and operated by Kotto's lady friend, played by Rosalind Cash, and Rudy Ray Moore as an underworld type who owes Kotto some big undisclosed favor. Good cast also includes Randy Brooks, Frank Rice, Fuddle Bagley, Donn Carl Harper, future producer/director Thomas Carter (pre-White Shadow), Kirk Calloway, Steven Williams, a small uncredited role by Robert Townsend and a young Debbi Morgan. Townsend and Williams also appeared in Cooley High.