Chocolate City

Let's get the obvious out of the way...It's not Magic Mike.

I assumed that this movie would be the difference between Vanilla or chocolate. What is your preference ladies?

Chocolate City is like every other movie I've seen on Bounce TV or BET late night when I'm flipping though the channel. The only difference is it's about Male stripping, but that is not much of a difference.

It tries to go over the what it's like to be a professional exotic dancer but the film was too by-the-numbers to be anything but dull, and I'm not interested enough in the ups and downs of male pole riders to do nothing but sleep through it.

Barely worth making fun of.

I was both surprised and happy to see 'Chocolate City' name drop 'Magic Mike' right off the bat. It was a smart move because you know it was the direct comparison viewers were gonna make. This stripper tale aptly takes place in Atlanta and of course features the African American side. A formula plot, but with likable characters & delivers the visuals females will enjoy.

Michael (Robert Ri'chard) has a partial scholarship to college, minimum wage job, attends church and a family strapped for cash. A chance meeting with Princeton (Michael Jai White) lands him a job that of course turns out to be stripping. Michael in shape and a good dancer takes to the money as he has to play a balancing act of secrecy from his mom (Vivica A. Fox) and girlfriend Carmen (Imani Hakim).

Notable cast includes Carmen Electra as the club DJ, singer Ginuwine & male model Tyson Beckford as fellow strippers while writer/director Jean-Claude La Marre plays the local church pastor. It's really Ri'chard's likability and the screen presence of White that stood out for me in rehashed drama. You have to accept how quickly Michael's reluctance for this line of work goes away. Then the speed at which he becomes a star and lies to everyone around him.

The rest offers no surprises. Failing school grades. A concerned mother wondering where this money is coming from. A barely developed feud with an a-hole stripper. A girlfriend who finds out the truth and the fallout. I'm obviously not the right demographic, but for a dtv flick about male strippers this could have been 10X worse.

Wasn't this suppose to be some competition to the upcoming magic mike xxl? Guess not. Looks like it flopped so bad that I'm literally watching it right now on B.E.T. All that hype for nothing. Lmfao. Guess this is one rip-off that ain't getting no love. Tyson Beckford acting career seems to continue to go downhill. Second flop in the same year. First one being Addicted. Which was yet another ripoff. That one copied 50 shades of Grey. That one didn't even get released on blu ray. Just DVD. Wtf. That's the first time I ever, ever, ever heard of that happening. Even the movie The Interview, which was to be released in theaters but was banned or something due to the way it portrayed Korea, was released on Netflix but still got a blu ray release as well.

Was this supposed to be a parody? I have it 2/10 only for their hot bodies. Might have gotten more if they'd shown their junk.

I usually don't post, but before I bought the movie I read reviews, and they were scathing. They condemned this movie to hell, but it wasn't that bad.

I try to support African American and Indie films, and I have seen some bad ones... like really bad. I think it was a happy medium for those who want to watch independent films, but aren't extremely raunchy. I feel like they were still trying to catch some of the AA church patrons who buy indie films and help blow up Tyler Perry, so there is only so far that they could go. I like Robert Ri'chard as an actor, I think he did an excellent job. In my opinion, the script was predictable, but so is everything else now days. When was the last original horror film, and isn't everything coming out a remake or sequel just about. If you want to see black actors, who you otherwise don't get to see regularly in major motion pictures or on television, tell a familiar story with some music you can groove to while grinding their super sexy bodies, this will do it. No, it is not a major Hollywood production. Yes, it made me smile. Yes, it made me chuckle a little, and hell yes it made me want to go grab my man.

The movie was 3.99 on amazon to watch, I spend more than that on a burger. Why not support the AA movie movement and have a little fun in the process?

I just wanted to write to show some love for the work that these people did.