Information about Undercover Brother

Undercover Brother
Directed by	Malcolm D. Lee
Produced by	Brian Grazer
Written by	John Ridley Michael McCullers
Starring	Eddie Griffin Chris Kattan Denise Richards Aunjanue Ellis
Music by	Stanley Clarke
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	31 May 2002 (USA)
Running time	86 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$25,000,000 (estimated)
Official website
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Undercover Brother is a 2002 comedy starring Eddie Griffin and directed by Malcolm D. Lee (cousin of Spike Lee). The screenplay is by Michael McCullers and co-executive producer John Ridley (Three Kings), 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, Denise Richards, comedian Dave Chappelle, Aunjanue Ellis, Neil Patrick Harris, Billy Dee Williams, and features a cameo by James Brown.

Tagline: Solid.

Synopsis

The movie begins saying that in the 70s, black culture was popular. In the 80s it went down a bit, and in the 90s, tragedy struck, and it proceeded to get worse, due to the efforts of "The Man" (Robert Trumbull). Then they say only one person kept the tradition alive: Undercover Brother (Eddie Griffin). He looks and acts like he is still in the 70s.

There is another group, the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D., who also fight for black rights. They never heard of Undercover Brother and he never heard of them. Sistah Girl (Aunjanue Ellis) is posing as an employee at one of The Man's company who has been trying to abolish all blackness in the world. Sistah Girl almost uploaded information from the computers, but then is interrupted. An alarm sounds and an old man is found deleting the files. Security guards go after him. They attack him and pull off his disguise and it turns out that it is Undercover Brother. Undercover Brother beats them up and runs. As he is running, Sistah Girl uses her briefcase and shoots a wire, causing the security guards to trip. Undercover Brother notices this and quickly thanks her. He runs to the top of the building and jumps off. Luckily, his parachute opens, bringing him to the ground safely.

The B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. is curious as to who he is. The news said they do not know who he is, but they are questioning Macy Gray. They find out it is Undercover Brother. The Chief (Chi McBride), of the Brotherhood, says they need somebody like that with them.

The Man is mad that Gen. Warren Boutwell (Billy Dee Williams), a black Vietnam veteran, is considering running for president, and a very likely candidate to win. He calls his lackey Mr. Feather (Chris Kattan) and Mr. Feather tells him about a mind control drug that they have produced. He hangs up the phone and turns on the radio. He tries to control himself, but he ends up dancing to rap music.

The members of the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. are all watching the TV where there is a press conference from Boutwell. They are waiting to see if he will run for office. When the press conference begins, he says he will be opening up a chicken joint. Everybody is shocked. The B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. is sure this is the work of The Man. The chief says he needs Undercover Brother.

Sistah Girl goes to Undercover Brother’s apartment and takes him to the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. headquarters. He meets Conspiracy Brother (Dave Chappelle), Smart Brother (Gary Anthony Williams), The Chief, and Lance (Neil Patrick Harris). Lance is a white man who was somehow hired as an intern there due to, according to the Chief, affirmative action. They explain to him about the organization and what they do. They also say what The Man does.

Sistah Girl and Undercover Brother go undercover at a golf course and follow Boutwell, who is acting like a white person. They spot Mr. Feather, and Undercover Brother goes after him. Feather runs away while his security guards fight him. Sistah Girl saves him. They leave and are sure that The Man is behind it because they know Mr. Feather is his #1 man.

The B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. convinces Undercover Brother to go undercover in white culture. After undergoing a near dangerous procedure to study white culture, he goes undercover as a new employee, Anton Jackson, at the same company he busted in the beginning.

There, he meshes with the white people in the building, and then sneaks into a room with much technical equipment. He steals information on the candidate. They ask him to stay undercover until they decode the information. The alarm sounds and Mr. Feather sees Undercover Brother on a security camera.

Mr. Feather says they need to get their secret weapon which is like black people kryptonite: White She Devil, a white woman. Undercover Brother changes back into Anton. He bumps into a disguised White She Devil named Penelope Snow (Denise Richards). She says it is her first day of work too. Undercover Brother and her start to go out like a couple. She begins to make him do stereotypical white people things, including eating mayonnaise without the hot sauce, buying corduroy clothes, and the like.

When Undercover Brother goes to the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. headquarters, he is acting completely white. After insulting all the workers, he leaves the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. The chief says when he is undercover too long, they become what they go undercover as.

Things get even crazier for the black culture, including John Singleton remaking Driving Miss Daisy, Jay-Z remaking a Lawrence Welk album, and a sequel to How Stella Got Her Groove Back being made. The B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D find out from the information that they are using the mind control drug on the candidate. They ask how they are distributing the drug and realize it is in the chicken, which Conspiracy Brother was eating. The Chief says that it's now imperative that Undercover Brother gets his stuff together before it's too late. Sistah Girl goes to warn Undercover Brother since he doesn’t know. Conspiracy Brother asks Smart Brother if he is going to die from eating the chicken.

Undercover Brother is now as white as ever, as he listens to a Michael Bolton cover of Sisqo's "The Thong Song." Before things get even more confounded, Sistah Girl goes there dressed as a 70s vixen. She tries to convince him where he comes from, but Penelope tries to keep him in the white. Both women sway him back and forth between Undercover Brother and Anton Jackson until Sistah Girl pulls out his medallion that he says will remind him who he is. He becomes Undercover Brother. White She Devil reveals herself as Penelope Snow and shows her true intentions by fighting with the two along with her henchmen. Sistah Girl and White She Devil take the fight to the shower. The henchmen and Undercover Brother stop fighting and watch them as they fight seductively. Sistah Girl punches White She Devil and knocks her out and Undercover Brother starts to fight again.

They leave and a car chase follows, but White She Devil and the henchmen follow. They get trapped. The henchmen hold them and White She Devil is about to shoot but shoots the henchmen instead. She says she fell in love with Undercover Brother.

They all go back to the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. Smart Brother takes White She Devil to find out what she knows. While he does that, Lance comes in and says that he just saw Roots and wants to abolish all bigotry, much to the chagrin of Conspiracy Brother. They invite him into the group. Conspiracy Brother is angry that Lance was invited in. The Chief invites White She Devil in as well. After a speech from Undercover Brother about equality, Conspiracy Brother decides to stay. The B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. head to a major awards gala after they find out that James Brown would become the next target. Lance tries to protect him, but the chauffeur was Mr. Feather and drove him away. Lance beats himself over his incompetence, then the group finds an antidote for the mind control drug. They go to the place where they took James Brown, who had a transmitter on him.

They go undercover as a Jamaican cleaning service to break in and try to find out where the candidate is. While they do that, Mr. Feather has James Brown held hostage. James Brown starts to yell, which reveals Mr. Feather's hidden blackness. James takes off his costume to reveal that it is Undercover Brother in disguise. Mr. Feather sends his henchmen after he group after The B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. finds out where the Candidate is. The Candidate, none other than Boutwell, is called by Mr. Feather who tells him to kill Undercover Brother while he runs away.

The henchmen arrive in the command center and one of them says that White She Devil set up the Brotherhood. She goes to him, but steals his gun and turns it on him. Sistah Girl and White She Devil fight with the other henchmen. Afterwards Conspiracy Brother presses a button that will make the building have a meltdown in 5 minutes. Then they go to help Undercover Brother. Boutwell is about to shoot him when they give him to antidote. They take him out of the building. While on on the way they encounter three white guards which are killed in a gruesome manner by Lance, whom they had provoked by callig him a 'Sissy'. The team reaches the beach at the same moment as the Chief, who arrives with a hovercraft.

Undercover Brother runs to the roof to stop Mr. Feather. They get into a kung-fu fight and fight to the song Beat It. Mr. Feather uses his Wolverine-esque claws to cut off Undercover Brother’s afro. He is angry and goes after him. At the same time, The Man is in a helicopter above the building and tells the drivers to leave because Mr. Feather failed him. Mr. Feather jumps up and holds onto the bottom. Over the ocean, Undercover Brother throws his afro picks at him and makes Mr. Feather fall, and a shark jumps from the water and eats him. The building explodes and Undercover Brother jumps off to where the group are standing, far on the beach. Sistah Girl says he doesn’t have his parachute, but he presses a button and his bellbottoms expand and float him to safety.

He and Sistah Girl kiss and after a speech about equality they board the hovercraft and leave the island. A voice from the off asserts that thanks to Undercover Brother the world is funky again.

Cast

• Eddie Griffin as Undercover Brother/Anton Jackson
• Chris Kattan as Mr. Feather
• Denise Richards as White She Devil
• Aunjanue Ellis as Sistah Girl
• Dave Chappelle as Conspiracy Brother
• Chi McBride as The Chief
• Neil Patrick Harris as Lance
• Gary Anthony Williams as Smart Brother
• Billy Dee Williams as Gen. Warren Boutwell
• Jack Noseworthy as Mr. Elias

Awards

• Black Reel - Best Film Song for "Undercova Brother (We Got the Funk)".

Performed by Snoop Dogg, Bootsy Collins, and Fred Wesley

External links

• Official website