The American Society of Magical Negroes

This movie is not as bad as the 1-star reviewers would have you believe. Reading those reviews it's clear they missed the point - "It's Not the Shark, It's the Water." That said, I think the movie would have done better as a stage play, or maybe with a slightly larger budget it could have been a good limited-run TV show like "Woke" on Hulu.

It's set up like your standard romantic comedy starting with an awkward meet-cute, but then there's a lot of talking - a lot of heartfelt conversations, lots of exposition, a chaotic monologue...little was done to spice things up. Sorry guys but a clearly ADR touched up walk and talk through Echo Park isn't gonna cut it in 2024.

Admittedly, this is not a movie for everyone. If you're not prepared for a slow satirical comedy this movie will frustrate you. If you don't "get" satire, this movie will frustrate you. It's an obvious wink and a nod to certain demographics, and if you know, you know, and if you don't, this movie might make you feel uncomfortable. ;)

Could a movie possibly be any LESS aware of what's going on in the country? Did someone really think it was the right time to make this? Who would fund this and why?

How unbelievably inappropriate.

Do they not realize that in order to MAKE this movie they needed access to the ACTUAL magic of FILM and cinema? Technology and methods that were invented in Europe. The actual real life magic of cinema HAS improved EVERYONE'S lives. It is something to be shared and appreciated by ALL. Movies like this serve to, once again, separate and divide. Tragic.

The absolute hypocrisy of this movie is honestly astounding. This will gain ZERO support for the cause it's trying to validate. If anything, this is counter intuitive.

We need more of Jordan Peele and less of these ridiculously self serving fabricated fantasies of toxic filmmakers.

I love David Allen Grier and Justice Smith and I love their chemistry. This movie did get slow at times, but it did bring things to my attention that I had been previously unaware of. I had such little understanding of what black peoples lives were like on a daily basis and how much discrimination they have to deal with. BLM opened my eyes to a lot and this movie helps further that. I'm baffled by the copious amounts of bad reviews. I wouldn't watch this again, but I'm glad I did once. Things have to change and even though this movie didn't get a great reception it's an important step forward. Keep talking about uncomfortable things, because that's the only way things will change.

There's only so many times you can repeat the same 'white people so fragile' joke before it gets stale, and The American Society of Magical Negroes forms its entire foundation around it. It says absolutely nothing new or profound about racism, and right from the jump, you know exactly where it's headed. The new recruit, played by Justice Smith, has to tend to a white male who's down on his luck, and he meets an Armenian woman in a coffee shop and falls in love with her. In order to keep the white man happy, the recruit must surrender his feelings in order to make his white client happier, lest he ends up destroying the entire foundation the Society is set upon.

I was in the auditorium with one other man, and not a single one of us were genuinely entertained by what was going on (the other dude was just messing around on his phone). I ended up walking out an hour in because I knew where it was going and it wasn't going to get any better, and I highly suggest staying as far away from this one as possible.

I didn't know what this movie was gonna be about I just thought the name was funny. It's starts off awkward, seemed like a typical role for Justice Smith. I was hoping it was gonna have some grandeur to it, I was expecting a really funny black Harry Potter maybe. The premise is a little weird, maybe racist too. And I don't think the movie as a whole was executed well.

I had a couple laughs. Like how they couldn't figure out a better way to design a secret entrance in the barber shop. The speech he gave about the magical society and sharks was hilariously bad. I kept comparing this to American fiction, very unfavorably. It felt like that's what they were trying to do. Felt like it could be funnier. The story and its characters took everything seriously even though the premise felt extremely silly.

Throughout the movie, I was inundated with waves of second-hand embarrassment and awkwardness. The premise relies heavily on white discomfort, well I'm black and I was like "ugh, no" a lot. The movie felt inconsistent, with some scenes seeming okay, as if they belonged in a better film, while others gave me the urge to scream "nooo!!" even louder than Charles Leclerc in France. The final speech was particularly dreadful, it was out of the blue, replete with cringe-inducing moments and also unjustified based off what we saw of the character. He was simply a socially awkward guy, period. It had nothing to do with him being black. The collective sighs of "oh no" from the audience were frequent. I shouldn't say the audience, there were only like 5 other people in the theatre. A lot of scenes were hard to watch.

However, I did like the romantic bits, which could have easily formed the basis of a separate film. I'd certainly be keen to watch a cheesy romcom starring Justice Smith and An Li Bogan.

There were a few bits that I liked, that made me laugh, but this could've been so much better, or maybe not even made at all lol. I don't think the movie had any meaning behind it that it conveyed successfully. I think if I liked the movie, I'd have maybe liked the ending. Instead I thought "oh no, there's gonna be another one."