Carmen: A Hip Hopera (2001) (TV)

User Rating:

4.1/10   

Director:

Robert Townsend

Writer:

Michael Elliot (written by)

Release Date:

8 May 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Drama

Plot:

Carmen, a seduceful aspiring actress seems to lead trouble everywhere she goes. But when a hard-nosed cop...

Plot Keywords:

Actress | Tragic Love | Melancholy | Remake Of Remake | Hip Hop

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Beyoncé Knowles	...	Carmen
Mekhi Phifer	...	Sergeant Derrick Hill
Mos Def	...	Frank Miller
Rah Digga	...	Rasheeda
Joy Bryant	...	Nikki
Wyclef Jean	...	Fortune Teller
Da Brat	...	Narrator
Jermaine Dupri	...	Pockets
Bow Wow	...	Jalil
Casey Lee	...	Blaze
Reagan Gomez-Preston	...	Caela
Sam Sarpong	...	Nathaniel
Troy Winbush	...	Porter
Fred Williamson
Maurice G. Smith	...	Big Mo'

Also Known As:

Carmen Brown (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, sensuality, and drug content.

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Carmen Productions

Quotes:

Blaze: Hello, I'm Blaze. But my friends call me Case...
[Carmen cuts him off]
Carmen: I know who you are. I'm Carmen.
Blaze: Nice to meet you.
Carmen: Nice to meet you.
Blaze: So what's a fine lady like you doing in Philly? Small town masquerading as a big city.
Carmen: I won't be here for long. See I have dreams... plans.
Blaze: I wanna hear about 'em.
Carmen: [sucks teeth] Pssh. No, you don't.
Blaze: No, really. I'm interested.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Remake of Carmen Jones (1954)

Disappointing letdown to hip hop fans

Poorly acted, unconvincing "modern" adaption of Bizet's classic opera. Saddled with a two-dollar production look and a cast of (with the exception of Phifer) unprofessional actors. One fairly interesting bit is a few parts which actually set Bizet's music to raps, which only works intermittently. Inferior to both the original and Oscar Hammerstein's similarly overblown 1950s adaption (filmed, if I remember right, memorably by Otto Preminger).

All fans of musicals should avoid it, even though it holds out the promise of being a new type of musical. All fans of hip hop should avoid it, because it forces a cast that is incredibly talented in musical areas to act with hokey dialogue and no direction. It should especially be taken on for taking Mos Def, a genius of lyrics, and making him rap to mediocre lines written by some bozo the clown.

Townsend should really be taken to the cleaners over this, and in the future he should probably be advised to look the other way when offered TV productions with a look like my mama's basement (and she hasn't got one, folks).�