I'm Gonna Git You Sucka

I'm Gonna Git You Sucka
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Keenen Ivory Wayans
Written by	Keenen Ivory Wayans
Produced by	Eric L. Gold; Raymond Katz;
Starring	Keenen Ivory Wayans; Bernie Casey; Antonio Fargas; Isaac Hayes; Jim Brown; Ja'net Dubois;
Cinematography	Tom Richmond
Edited by	Michael R. Miller
Music by	David Michael Frank
Production; companies	United Artists; Front Films; Ivory Way Productions; Raymond Katz Productions
Distributed by	MGM/UA Communications Co.
Release dates	December 14, 1988 (limited); January 11, 1989 (wide);
Running time	89 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$3 million
Box office	$13 million

I'm Gonna Git You Sucka is a 1988 American blaxploitation parody film written, directed by and starring Keenen Ivory Wayans in his directorial debut. Featured in the film are several noteworthy African-American actors who were part of the genre of blaxploitation: Jim Brown, Bernie Casey, Antonio Fargas and Isaac Hayes. It co-stars John Vernon, Kadeem Hardison, Ja'net Dubois, John Witherspoon, Damon Wayans, Clarence Williams III and Chris Rock, and acts as the film debuts of comedian Robin Harris and brothers Shawn and Marlon Wayans.

The film entered a limited theatrical release on December 14, 1988, before expanding to a wide release on January 11, 1989. It was commercially successful, grossing $13 million, and received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

When soldier Jack Spade learns that his brother Junebug overdosed on gold chains and died, he returns to Any Ghetto, U.S.A. As he surveys the old neighborhood, Jack notices the impact that gold chains have had on his neighborhood and feels that not only should his brother's death be made right, but the entire neighborhood as well. He vows to destroy Mr. Big, the neighborhood chain lord responsible for the epidemic that claimed Junebug's life.

Jack asks for the aid of his childhood idol and local hero John Slade in planning the demise of Mr. Big's empire. Together, they form a team including Kung Fu Joe, Flyguy, Slammer, and Hammer. With the help of his crew, Jack sets out to take down Mr. Big and the gold trade in the streets.

Cast

Keenen Ivory Wayans as Jack Spade
Bernie Casey as John Slade
Ja'net Dubois as Belle Brown-Spade
Isaac Hayes as "Hammer"
Jim Brown as "Slammer"
Antonio Fargas as Flyguy
Steve James as Joe "Kung Fu Joe"
John Vernon as "Mr. Big"
Dawnn Lewis as Cheryl Spade
Kadeem Hardison as Willie
Damon Wayans as Leonard
Kim Wayans as Nightclub Singer
Nadia Wayans as Bar Patron
Chris Rock as Rib Joint Customer
Anne-Marie Johnson as "Cherry"
Eve Plumb as Kalinga's Wife
Tony Cox as Wayne Evans
Hawthorne James as Sam "One-Eyed Sam"
Clarence Williams III as Kalinga
David Alan Grier as Newsman
Robin Harris as The Bartender
Marlon Wayans and Shawn Wayans as Pedestrians
Gary Owens as Pimp of The Year Pageant Announcer
Michael Conn as Officer
Ariana Richards as Little Girl
John Witherspoon as Reverend
Lawrence Parker as himself
Derrick Jones as himself
Robert Townsend (uncredited)
Peggy Lipton (uncredited)
Clu Gulager as Lieutenant Baker

Background

The film was written and directed by first-time director Keenan Ivory Wayans. The inspiration behind the film came from Wayans, who is a fan of blaxploitation films, and his childhood spent growing up watching these films as they made up the majority of black films made during the 1970s. Sitting with friends and making fun of the genre struck the idea for the film in Wayans.^[2] Before making I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, Wayans spent five years earning credentials for films such as Hollywood Shuffle and Eddie Murphy Raw. Eddie Murphy suggested the concept of a blaxploitation parody and its title.^[3] Once Wayans earned enough credibility to have his film picked up by a studio and a budget of $3 million, Wayans filmed his debut feature film in 32 days. It grossed a total of $3 million in the box office in the first month of the film's release.^[2]

Critical reception

I'm Gonna Git You Sucka has an approval rating of 62% on Rotten Tomatoes from 29 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka puts a satirical spin on '70s nostalgia with a comedy whose somewhat scattershot laughs are often offset by pure energetic silliness."^[4]

I’m Gonna Git You Sucka received critical receptions that were wide-ranging and numerous in viewpoint. The film opened to rave responses from the black community, who felt the film captured the era of blaxploitation films from the 1970s.^[5] Black audience members were thrilled to attend the screening of a movie filled with black actors about a black film genre.^[6] Critics also noted Wayans’ ability to satirically capture the trope of the "Buck" in blaxploitation film: the white man's notion of the all-powerful brutal black man.^[7]

In her analysis of the film, Harriet Margolis wrote that this is not because "[Jack] consciously chooses to reject his mother’s values as that he wants to establish his own based on the macho heroic values he learned during the heyday of blaxploitation films."^[8]

Historian Robert Sklar wrote, "The [blaxploitation film] movement quickly developed into a phenomenon not of an African-American audience but of a specific subgroup, a segment of a segment: young urban males,” so often the perspective and narratives of young black women were left out or included as the background in many of these films during the 1970s.^[9]

Critics of the film argued that the film not only failed at producing humor in its use of black stereotypes, but generally was not funny. Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert wrote I’m Gonna Git You Sucka is "a comedy that feeds off the blaxploitation movie, and although, like all good satires, it is cheerfully willing to be offensive, it is almost completely incapable of being funny."^[10] There was also a concern about the perception of the film from white moviegoing audiences. The film's villain, Mr. Big, is not only a white man, but a white man responsible for the deterioration of an inner city black community.^[6]

Television pilot

On December 15, 1990, the hour-long television pilot titled Hammer, Slammer, & Slade was shown on ABC-TV.^[11] It was directed by Michael Schultz.

Isaac Hayes (Hammer), Jim Brown (Slammer), and Bernie Casey (Slade) continued in their parts from the movie I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. Also returning were Ja'net Dubois and Steve James. Although Keenen Ivory Wayans wrote the pilot, and he served as the executive producer, he did not appear in this pilot. Instead, the character of Jack Spade was portrayed by Eriq La Salle. Fast-talking Lennie, played by Damon Wayans in the film, was played by Bentley Kyle Evans, while his sidekick Willie, played by Kadeem Hardison in the film, was played by a then-unknown Martin Lawrence.

Hammer, Slammer, & Slade was not sold to any TV network, but it was shown several times in syndication.

Home media

In 2001, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka was released on DVD^[12] and in 2010, it was digitized in High Definition (1080i) and released on MGM HD. In 2016, Kino Lorber released the film on Blu-ray.^[13]

References

^ ^a ^b "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka". Box Office Mojo.
^ ^a ^b Kelleher, Terry (January 12, 1989). "Spoofing Blaxploitation – The actor/writer/director of 'I'm Gonna Git You Sucka' decided the genre was ripe for parody". Newsday.
^ Wayans, Keenen Ivory (August 22, 2018). "Hollywood Shuffle: Robert Townsend & Keenen Ivory Wayans". Austin Film Festival's On Story Podcast. 44 minutes in. "Eddie said somebody should do a parody of these movies and call it I'm [Gon] Git You Sucka.
^ "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
^ Fitch, Janet (December 1, 1988). "Screenings: I'm Gonna Git You Sucka". American Film.
^ ^a ^b Jones, Debra (January 28, 1989). "Folks turn out for 'I'm Gonna Git You Sucka' opening". New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993).
^ Bogle, Donald (2001). Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 231–266. ISBN 9780826412676.
^ Margolis, Harriet (1999). "Stereotypical Strategies: Black Film Aesthetics, Spectator Positioning, and Self-Directed Stereotypes in "Hollywood Shuffle" and "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka"". Cinema Journal. 38 (3): 50–66. ISSN 0009-7101. JSTOR 1225524.
^ Sklar, Robert (2012). Movie-Made America: A Cultural History of American Movies. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0394721200.
^ Ebert, Roger (December 14, 1998). "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
^ Schwed, Mark (April 13, 1990). "Night of the Living Laughs". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on May 27, 2008. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
^ "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka - Releases". AllMovie. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
^ "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka Blu-ray Review". High Def Digest. March 7, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2023.