A "rockumentary", covering the rise to fame of MC Gusto, Stab Master Arson, and Dead Mike: members of the rap group "CB4". We soon learn that these three are not what they seem and don't apear to know as much about rap music as they claim... but a lack of musical ability in an artist never hurts sales, does it? You've just got to play the part of a rap star... Written by
----------------------------------------
atriumelph from Northeast USA
----------------------------------------
This is by far one of Chris Rock's best works to date, and it's his first starring role! This movie has tons of talent, a tight plot (okay - you need a good ability to suspend your disbelief), and a palpable message.
It quickly became something of an underground classic as the early 90s launched the careers of many gangster rap artists. This movie does a great job of parodying the rise and fall of a gangster rap group.
It's got a unique urban flavor and is loaded with perhaps more race-driven humor than others may think necessary (many many MANY racial stereotypes are exploited in this movie, such as a local restaurant called "Big Ass Biscuit" where the young rappers frequented). However, it's done in a very tongue-in-cheek manner and the overall effect is hilarious, not heinous.
The addition to the cast of Chris Elliot playing the role of "A. White", the rapumentary's director, is brilliant. Elliot is great at playing a white fanboy who lands the job of working for his new favorite rap group, and he fumbles through the movie as only Chris Elliot can.
Phil Hartman is equally funny as Virgil Robinson, a local politician who tries to use CB4's profanity as his new platform for re-election (meanwhile, his son is addicted to CB4's music and image). The interaction between Virgil and his son in this manner represents how many parents viewed rap music as their children began to listen to it.
This movie is laden with parodies too numerous to list. The soundtrack is also quite good (if you like rap music at all) and includes the song "Sweat of my Balls" - a song featured in the movie (also hysterical, complete with a stage show of large testicles being dropped from the ceiling onto the crowd).
If you aren't easily offended, this movie is VERY entertaining. If you are able to look beyond the veneer of racial overtones and profanity, it also has a few points to make about the origins of "fake" gangster rap groups and their image.
Look for underrated performances by Tyrone Granderson Jones as "40 Dog", Richard Gant as "Baa Baa Ack" and Charles Q. Murphy as "Gusto".
I CAN'T WAIT for this to be released on DVD - if it ever will be...
----------------------------------------
madeazy from NYC
----------------------------------------
whether you hate rap music or you don't this is one of the funniest movies about rap music. CB4 pokes fun at west coast gangsta rap that was popular in the early 90's- this had to be one of Chris Rock's funniest roles ever!!! The songs are really funny and all the characters in this movie make it what it is- from Chris Elliot to Phil Hartman.
----------------------------------------
Brian Washington (Sargebri@att.net) from Los Angeles, California
----------------------------------------
This is one of my favorite movies of all time. I love the fact that they pretty much play on the myth that most rappers are essentially middle class kids who've never even smelled the ghetto but try to pass themselves off as true "gangstas". Chris Rock and the rest of the cast make this one of the funniest movies of all time as well as a great commentary on the music business. Also, Allen Payne shows that he has a great flair for comedy as he plays Rip and Candy Alexander shines as Cissy. She pretty much has fun playing the stereotypical groupie that everyone has written about from rockers to rappers. This film really is a classic.
----------------------------------------
nailed-3 from Austin, TX
----------------------------------------
This movie is a classic. I had wanted to see it when I was younger, but of course I wasn't allowed to. I saw this a few months ago and it was even better now. This is one of Chris Rock's best performances, he nails the role of a rapper perfectly (not to mention his costume...). The movie was one of the first to feature parody raps and they are great, considering this film was Pre-Insane Clown Posse and the like. "Sweat from my balls" still makes me laugh every time I hear it.
Some might say this does not transfer to the new rap school, but It definitely does. If you were once a fan of oldschool rap or are still a fan of rap, this movie is definitely worth checking out.
----------------------------------------
scobbah (scobbah@gmail.com) from rebro, Sweden
----------------------------------------
I've heard various stories about CB4, so finally I had the conclusion that I just have to see this piece. CB4 covers all my funny prejudices about the gangsterrap culture, and starts out with a small crew who wants to end up like rap stars - it's all about the beat and the attitude! Chris Rock just plays his role like a mad man, so good and so real! I just laughed the whole time this piece rolled in the VCR, and these scenes who are shooting parody of the gangsterculture just takes home the first prize award - it's too much of the good stuff! It has a good point after all, and when the ending credits roll I felt that this was a true piece of acting - funny and creative as it does not follow any other film formula I've yet seen so far. 7/10!
----------------------------------------
d-melino from London, England
----------------------------------------
This film is an amusing highly quotable, high energy attack on the hypocrisy of rap music. It is a mock documentary in the style of Spinal Tap and uses the format extremely well.
Although the characters often descend into caricatures, the energetic performances from Chris Rock, Allen Payne and a great spot from Willard E Pugh as Don King baiting record label boss, Trustuss Jones, see this film through.
Great Soundtrack and comic songs such as Sweat On My Balls and Straight Outta Locash are excellent. I would recommend this film to anybody with an hour and a half to spare.
----------------------------------------
Morgan Carlson (mcarls1@hofstra.edu) from Hempstead, New York
----------------------------------------
When CB4 lampoons the rap industry (and its image in white society), this movie really rolls. When it goes back to the 'plot' of the film (involving some jailed gangster and his revenge on CB4), you might have to fight to stay awake. Thankfully, the first hour of the movie is content to be a satire, and takes many well-aimed shots at 'gangsta rap' and the stereotypes it perpetrates. However, as soon as CB4 begin to wonder what they've become, you might want to hit the ol' fast-forward button. (Melodrama and cliched plot are murder for satires.) Chris Rock is funny as always, and the rest of the cast is surprisingly solid.
----------------------------------------
bobert34 from New Jersey, USA
----------------------------------------
I am writing this review upon seeing the move, CB4, for the third time. Even after watching this film twice, I still managed to laugh my way through 99% of the jokes. This movie showcases Chris Rock's unique and funny blend of black comedy which was still relatively unknown in his immediate post-SNL period of his career. The jokes are fast and fresh, and come one after another and still manage to get chuckles out of the audience. CB4 follows such films as Spinal Tap, in using the mockumentary style. CB4 provides a documentary for a rap group headed by Albert, Chris Rock. Rock's already established views on black culture fit in very well in his role as a middle class black man pretending to be a gangsta rapper. The supporting cast of Allen Payne and Deezer D as Euripides and Otis respectively, provide great personas for Rock to joke off of. The movie climaxes in a typical Chris Rock humorous way and leaves the audience feeling satisfied and happy. The movie is also enhanced by some killer cameos in the beginning by such rapping stars as, Shaq(during his ill-fated rapping days), Ice-T, Ice-Cube, and some other famous rappers. In a nutshell: I am only waiting for this film to be released on DVD so I can watch it over and over again.
----------------------------------------
DunnDeeDaGreat from Woodbridge, VA
----------------------------------------
CB4 is clearly Chris Rock's funniest film. The film is a right on target of hip hop culture. The film has many scenes including one in a restaurant called Big Ass Biscut and and the funeral scene. Look for Eddie Murphy's brother Charlie in a funny role as Gusto.
----------------------------------------
mkw-5 from Finland
----------------------------------------
This is really funny movie. It's well made in every way. Comedy must be one of the most difficult "art" forms, alongside with horror. It's very well written, the timing is good, actors are good. Full of good ideas. And it's not only funny, it's also kind of sad, humane and beautiful. It's made with love.
This movie makes you want to forget all the BIG, Tupac and Suge Knight sh*t. The people in this movie have beef also, but it seems more like they are playing: They are not serious psychopaths like some. But anyway, after the rap world has experienced very seriously what playing with guns does in real life, it's a little confusing feeling to notice that you're laughing to these guys who are popping' their machine guns. But if you can take it as humor and all that, it's good movie. After all, these guys didn't kill anybody.
But in the end, under the "irony" and humor, there is some small but serious messages and lessons to learn if somebody wants to.
At the end of the movie, there is a scene in which 'Rock, Chris' haggles idiotically with Isaac Hayes. This is a spoof of a similar conversation between the same two actors in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988), in which Chris Rock played a customer at Isaac Hayes' rib joint.
------------------------
Chris Rock re-enacts his crack smoking scene (with the same facial expressions and wearing the same clothing) from the film New Jack City (1991).
------------------------
According to Charlie Murphy, after his first audition for the gangster Gusto, Chris Rock told him to act meaner. For his second audition, Murphy brought a real loaded gun to his audition and he got the part. The gun belonged to Ray Murphy Jr..
------------------------
As Chris Rock narrates the movie, he compares the real Gusto to Nino Brown. Nino Brown was the main drug lord in the movie New Jack City (1991) in which Rock and Allen Payne co-starred.
------------------------
The three songs performed by CB4 are loose remakes of real rap songs. 'Straight Out of Locash' was 'Straight Outta Compton' by N.W.A, 'Sweat of my Balls' was 'Talk Like Sex' by Kool G. Rap & D.J. Polo and 'Rapper's Delight' was originally by the Sugar Hill Gang.
------------------------
Charlie Murphy, who plays Gusto and is Eddie Murphy's older brother, told stories of his misadventures as a part of Eddie's entourage while on the set of this film. Those stories, which featured encounters with Prince and Rick James, would later be featured on Chappelle's Show as Charlie Murphy's True Hollywood Stories. Chris Rock revealed this in an interview years after Chappelle's Show ended and said he wished he had thought of the idea.
------------------------
The ragtime piano melody heard in the nursing home sequence is actually the Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight."
------------------------
The rap group CB4 claim to be from the town of Locash. LoCash is in fact the name of one of the film's screenwriters, Robert LoCash.
------------------------
Ron Howard filmed a cameo as himself but it was later deleted.
------------------------
Rachel True (Albert's girlfriend) calls him Arthur instead of Albert on the stairs of the scene at his mother's house.
------------------------
When Ben sees the tour bus coming, he puts his cap on twice.
------------------------
When the guy punches Trustus's corpse in the casket, he gives it a black eye. This is impossible, as a black eye is a collection of blood underneath the skin, and the blood is drained from a processed corpse and replaced with formalin.
------------------------
rap|rap music|title directed by female|african american|black comedy|digit in title|jheri curl hairstyle|jeep|acronym in title|satire|entire title is capitalized acronym|wheelchair|dream sequence|hip hop|spoof|fictional band|number in title|
AKAs Titles:
Argentina - CB4
Germany (DVD title) - CB4 - The Movie
Hungary - 4 - es krlet
Hungary - CB4
Russia - Си‘и 4: Че‚в刂‹й под€д
Release Dates:
Certifications:
Argentina:13 / Australia:M / Canada:14A (Ontario) / Germany:18 / Iceland:16 / UK:18 / USA:R
Movie Details:
MOVIE
