Undercover Brother | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Malcolm D. Lee |
Produced by | Brian Grazer |
Written by |
John Ridley Michael McCullers |
Starring |
Eddie Griffin Chris Kattan Dave Chappelle Denise Richards Aunjanue Ellis Neil Patrick Harris |
Narrated by | J.D. Hall |
Music by | Stanley Clarke |
Cinematography | Tom Priestley Jr. |
Edited by | William Kerr |
Production
company |
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Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date
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May 31, 2002 |
Running time
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88 minutes |
Country | United States, Canada |
Language | English |
Budget | $25 million |
Box office | $41.6 million |
Undercover Brother is a 2002 American/Canadian action comedy film starring Eddie Griffin and directed by Malcolm D. Lee. The screenplay is by Michael McCullers and co-executive producer John Ridley, who created the original Internet animation characters. It spoofs blaxploitation films of the 1970s as well as a number of other films, most notably the James Bond franchise. It also stars former Saturday Night Live cast member Chris Kattan and comedian Dave Chappelle as well as Aunjanue Ellis, Neil Patrick Harris, Denise Richards, and Billy Dee Williams, and features a cameo by James Brown.
The film begins with a back story of how African-American culture's popularity with the American public began to decline in the 1980s, when style and originality began to lose appeal in the public eye due to the persistent efforts of "The Man" (Robert Trumbull), a powerful Caucasian man in control of a secret organization that seeks to undermine the African-American community as well as the cultures of other minorities. The Man is infuriated that Gen. Warren Boutwell (Billy Dee Williams), a United States Army general based on Colin Powell, is considering running for president, and his lackey Mr. Feather (Chris Kattan) informs him of a mind-control drug which The Man uses to make Boutwell abort his plans and instead open a fried chicken franchise. The B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D., a secret organization that battles The Man's influence, determines The Man is behind Boutwell's change of heart, and recruits a freelance agent named Undercover Brother (Eddie Griffin) to aid them.