Livin' Large! (1991)

Director:

Michael Schultz

Writer (WGA):

William Mosley-Payne (written by)

Release Date:

20 September 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

A Comedy About Going From Downtown To Uptown, From Hip-Hop To Straight To The Top!

Plot:

A young black reporter begins to lose his identity. |

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Interracial Relationship | Independent Film

Cast

Terrence 'T.C.' Carson	...	Dexter Jackson
Lisa Arrindell Anderson	...	Toynelle Davis (as Lisa Arrindell)
Blanche Baker	...	Kate Penndragin
Nathaniel Hall	...	Baker Moon (as Nathaniel 'Afrika' Hall)
Julia Campbell	...	Missy Carnes
Bernie McInerney	...	Clifford Worthy
Loretta Devine	...	Nadine Biggs
Dan Albright	...	Martin
Ronald Knight	...	Roger (as Ronald J. Knight)
Randal Patrick	...	Jimmy
David de Vries	...	Stage Manager (as David De Vries)
Dan Chandler	...	Control Room Director
Joe Washington	...	Charles Hempstead
Wallace Wilkinson	...	Rev. Carnes
Suzanne Stewart	...	Mrs. Carnes

Also Known As:

The Tapes of Dexter Jackson

Runtime:

Spain:96 min | USA:96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:L | Norway:15 | Spain:T | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Company:

WMG Pictures

Movie Connections:

References "American Gladiators" (1989)

Soundtrack:

Love Me

Livin'Large.Thinking Small

When a young lower class black fellow from the ghetto,who aspires to be a journalist,wants to meet his idol,a black tv newsman while that tv news reporter is at a crime scene,and then when that same older classy black tv reporter,who turns down the young man's offer to see a video of the young man's work,gets killed in an accident while at the crime scene,the young black fellow takes his place reporting from the crime scene and becomes a hit with local viewers and the tv station and its' news producer.Such is the story of Dexter Jackson in the 1991 film Livin'Large,about a young black man who learns that despite the rewards of fame and money to never forget where you come.

That lesson would be decent enough to take in except that in the case of Livin'Large,the lesson becomes heavy handed.Dexter,played by Terrence Carter,changes more and more and becomes more remote from his ghetto neighborhood roots as he becomes successful.When a realtor shows him around a new townhouse he is going to buy,and his girlfriend tells Dexter that she can see the old neighborhood from the townhouse and Dexter replies,to his girlfriend's dismay,"and that is the way I prefer to see them from",the movie shows how much he is changing because of success and not for the better.

As with most films centered around black people,these days,the politics concerning blacks and white come into play.Blanche Baker plays her role as the manipulative sleezy news producer very well.Her character,Kate,mentions to Dexter that they,white woman and black men,together must work to keep the white man from keeping them from reaching the top.It is a horrid message from a trashy character and yet it is a message the film itself doesn't distance itself too far from.

Livin' Large tries to tell blacks,in a nutshell,that having too much success,being too refined in speech,dress,education,and manner,makes you white.It is a message that is somewhat clumsy to present to the audience.There is nothing wrong with success.There is nothing wrong is doing the best you can and having dreams far from one's position in life.Livin'Large would wish to sell the idea that if you are black,and trying to improve your lot in life,in being different than how blacks are usually seen and portrayed by the American entertainment media,is an idea filled with compromise,or "selling out",or "acting white".The film's makers,in this case,could not be more than wrong.One would not hate the film,there are some funny moments in it,but it is not quite the film one should reccomend to the general audience at large.