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David E. Talbert Presents: A Fool and His Money

When the blue collar Jordan family wins a radio contest for a million dollars, they quickly begin to realize that more money means more problems. It seems everybody wants a piece of their new fortune, including a long lost uncle played masterfully by comedian Eddie Griffin. It's a feel-good evening of laughter and song for the entire family!

David E. Talbert Presents: A Fool and His Money (2012)

When I was a little kid, I would often see ads late at night for touring black plays that were coming to churches and community centers, usually starring my favorite actors from Good Times or What&#39;s Happening? I would ask my parents if we could go, and I didn&#39;t understand that this was an experience maybe not for a 7-year-old white kid from the sticks. I still wish I had gon, and this movie proves I would have loved it. Directed and written by David E. Talbert, this has a logline that made me tune in: &quot;When the blue-collar Jordan family wins a radio contest for a million dollars, they quickly begin to realize that more money means more problems. It seems everybody wants a piece of their new fortune, including a long-lost uncle played masterfully by comedian Eddie Griffin.&quot; Then again, this IMDB reviewer did not enjoy this: &quot;The story moved extremely slowly. The jokes were mediocre, and the storyline was just so-so. Even so, I will continue to support black playwrights, artists &amp; businesses.&quot; At least they&#39;re supportive! There was also a 10/10 review that stated, &quot;If you have an hour and forty minutes to waste, this is OK&quot;, and another 9/10 review that claimed, &quot;For reviews of theatrical singing only.&quot; Not high praise. Anyways, the Jordan family is struggling. The factory has closed, leaving the father jobless. His wife is ready to leave him, the son is trying to help out by becoming a gangster, and the daughter is dating the gangster, only for her soldier ex-boyfriend to come home. Only grandma is happy, because all she does is go to church and sing her songs. As for Uncle Eddie (Eddie Griffin), he was once in trouble but seems to have turned his life around, even if no one believes it. Money changes everything, as they say, but as they also say, more money, more problems. As you can imagine, everything works out fine in the end. It feels like the play where you kind of had to be there, and the movie really isn&#39;t. I worry that people might think I&#39;m enjoying this inauthentically. Still, as a long-time lover of shows like Soul Train and Showtime at the Apollo , which aired during the mid-afternoon on weekends and at night, I would be, with all my heart, singing along and laughing.

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The story moved extremely slow. The jokes were mediocre, and the storyline was just so-so 🙄 Even so, I will continue to support black playwright, artist &amp; businesses.

This was a play just to start with not a movie. it had comedy, edgy drama, heart warming moments and overall a great message about family. It was everything I wasn&#39;t expecting from a play!

I never saw the previews so didn&#39;t know what to expect, the name and cover just caught my eye and so I figured I&#39;d give the movie a chance. The movie in a glimpse is centered around a lower class family struggling to make ends meet. The overly religious grandmother holds her faith in the lord and crams it down the throat of the audience, her family and their friends. I felt a bit bombarded with religion to early on in the movie and it did not cease there. It unnerved me for the most part that this family who came from nothing once, winning the million dollar phrase that pays lottery, goes and purchases the utmost useless trinkets that money can buy. Why didn&#39;t they go buy a house or even pay the dern gas bill. They only struted amongst one another in newly purchased wardrobes and talked in tones that mocked that of someone off of the Prince of Bel-Air. And there&#39;s the daughter with her teenaged love affairs and woes with an egotistical a*hole and an old high school flame who reappears in her life. She doesn&#39;t have the common sense of a two year old. The only one who I may give a bit of credit to may be the son who&#39;s actions at least made quite a bit of sense. Yet even he lost me for not being honest and letting on that his sister&#39;s boyfriend had become out of control. The mother played no true part as her request and demands made to the children where always futile and her husband seemed oblivious as to the fact that he even had responsibility for a daughter. He seemed to be more on jr&#39;s case when that was neither of any effect. The uncle in the end taught the whole family a true lesson even when his presence was unwanted by the adults. I could not take this play seriously enough to become emotionally affected by what happened to the characters. I was constantly harping at the TV screen for the dumb actions of the characters and by the end was glad that it was all over. Nothing to see here folks. Unless you are a fan of theatrical singing.

It&#39;s a play done on a stage and they filmed it for our enjoyment. And they did it rather well. Camera-work, lighting, etc was great, I thought the sound could have been better. (Although, I will admit to never having seen a play in person, thus, I lack the experience of hearing one.) The acting is top notch from top to bottom. Maybe a little slow in what I perceived to be early in the third act. But an outstanding production, nonetheless. The musical interludes were fantastic. Not a lot of songs, but all are well written and performed, especially the first one. It&#39;s a rags to riches to rags to riches story. We can all see it coming a mile away. But this isn&#39;t the same old way it is usually presented. If you got about an hour forty to waste and want to watch a REALLY good movie, put this one on your list.

User reviews

David E. Talbert Presents: A Fool and His Money

A Fool and His Money

A disappointment.

Very heartwarming play

Nothing to see here

I thought this was awesome.

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