American Pimp (1999)

Directors:

Albert Hughes
Allen Hughes

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Street pimps, all of them African-American, discuss their lives and work: getting started, being flamboyant...

Plot Keywords:

Pimp | African American | Money | Street Walker | Black American

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Too $hort	...	Too $hort
John S. Dickson	...	Himself (as Rosebudd)
Antonio Fargas	...	Link Brown
Heidi Fleiss	...	Herself (archive footage)
L. Hammond	...	Payroll The Pimp
Hugh M. Hefner	...	Himself (archive footage)
Dennis Hof	...	Himself
The Bishop Don Magic Juan	...	Himself
Max Julien	...	Himself / Goldie
Rudy Ray Moore	...	Dolemite
Conan O'Brien	...	Himself (archive footage)
Roscoe Orman	...	Willie Dynamite
Kenny Redd	...	Himself (as K-Red)
Clarence Sims	...	Himself (as Fillmore Slim)
Carol Speed	...	Lulu
Andre Taylor	...	Himself (as Gorgeous Dre)
Mel Taylor	...	Himself
Patrick Hegarty	...	Himself (uncredited)

Directed by
Albert Hughes
Allen Hughes

Produced by
Spencer Franklin	....	co-producer
Albert Hughes	....	producer
Allen Hughes	....	producer
Kevin J. Messick	....	producer

Cinematography by
Albert Hughes

Film Editing by
Doug Pray

Sound Department
Ron Bartlett	....	sound re-recording mixer
Yann Delpuech	....	supervising sound effects editor
Ethan Holzman	....	assistant sound editor
Allen Hughes	....	sound
Robin Johnston	....	machine room recordist
Darren King	....	sound editor
Gregory King	....	supervising sound editor
E. Niles Klein	....	sound editorial technical consultant
Aaron Levy	....	sound recordist
Rob Nokes	....	sound editorial technical consultant
Rudy Pi	....	sound re-recording mixer
Joan Rowe	....	foley artist (as Joanie Rowe)
Sean Rowe	....	foley artist
Mark Smith	....	sound re-recording mixer
John Switzer	....	post-production sound coordinator
Meg Taylor	....	assistant sound editor
Eric Thompson	....	foley mixer
Steven D. Williams	....	supervising sound editor

Visual Effects by
Christopher Dusendschon	....	in-show optical effects photography: THDX (uncredited)
Christopher Dusendschon	....	optical element Hazeltine colorist: THDX (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Robert Bennett	....	additional photographer
Frank W. Ockenfels III	....	still photographer: black and white (as Frank W. Ockenfels 3)
Sacha Riviere	....	additional first assistant camera
D. Stevens	....	still photographer

Editorial Department
Teresa Lang	....	additional editor
Dan Lebental	....	contributing editor
Michael Moncreiff	....	negative cutter
Dana Ross	....	color timer

Music Department
Jason Alexander	....	assistant music supervisor
Sharon Boyle	....	music consultant
Sean Carasov	....	music supervisor
Jonathan Karp	....	music editor
Jill Meyers	....	music business affairs

Transportation Department
Gary Preece	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Keith Barefoot	....	additional crew
Jerry Kitz	....	title designer
F. Stanley Pearse Jr.	....	location manager: New Orleans

Thanks
Eddie Murphy	....	special thanks
David Wirtschafter	....	special thanks (as Dave Wirtschafter)

Production Companies

• Underworld Entertainment

Distributors

• Seventh Art Releasing (2000) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM Home Entertainment

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive sexual content including dialogue, strong language and some drug related material

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:MA | Germany:18 | USA:R | New Zealand:R16

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Underworld Entertainment

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Idiocracy (2006)

Pimps talk game and are never pressed for the dirty detail – a waste of 90 minutes

The Hughes Brothers look into the world of pimping in America. They interview pimps and `ho's' from New York, Hawaii and all over the USA. Pimps share about how they came into the game, what they do, how they are perceived and what they are needed for among other topics.

I have watched many documentaries into the sex industry and have seen good and bad ones. The best ones are objective and they let the bad side and the good sides of any subject just come out without forcing the point or judging them. Louis Theroux is one of the better ones at this – he has done documentaries on pimps, porn and hip hop and has simply let his subjects talk – basically feeding them the rope as they want it till they eventually hang themselves without even knowing it!

With the Hughes Brothers attached to this documentary I had hoped it would be this type of thing. So I wasn't surprised when it started out glamorising the life. But I waited for the film to show me something that would hang the subjects on the bad sides of their lives. Even when the pimps talked about beating girls etc they were allowed free reign to defend themselves and were never pushed for details. Are they trying to be ironic I wondered? But no, instead the bad sides is only skated across when you compare to how much screen time is sent defending and glamorising the lifestyle.

The pimp life can't be too difficult to expose as cruel and exploitative can it? But here this documentary manages to do neither. Women are interviewed but only in the segments where their contributions are used to defend or support the glamorised version of events. But when the pimps talk about beating girls – no girls are there to put their side! Likewise I would like to hear more girls talk about how they feel to have the one man in their life called them `b*tches' all the time and taking their money.

The pimps all come out of it well despite being honest at times. The fact that all but one of the pimps are black made me wonder if it is only a black thing in America. Maybe this is the reason for the Hughes brothers bias – they are middle class and maybe their guilt makes them believe their `brothers' when they say `it was my only way up' etc. They manage to be so in awe of their subjects that they fail to bring anything of value out of this film. I know they must have been being careful not to judge or look down on their subjects, but their approach simply allows the pimps to talk – so do you really think we're going to get a full and honest picture about this business?

Overall I gained nothing from watching this and at best it bored me. The pimps simply talk game to cameras for 90 minutes and at the end of it I felt that they had been allowed to used me just like they use their `b*tches'. I expected more from the Hughes brothers.