Pootie Tang (2001)
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A satirical action hero with a magical belt must rediscover his inner goodness after being manipulated by a corporate conglomerate.
The story
Pootie Tang, a man born in a small town outside Gary, Indiana, is portrayed as a ladies' man who is 'too cool for words.' After inheriting a magical belt from his father, he rises to fame as a nightclub singer, music producer, and hero who defeats wrongdoers. However, the chief operating officer of the multi-industrial conglomerate LecterCorp views Pootie's positive influence as a threat to the company's bottom line. To stop him, Lecter encourages his right-hand lady, Ireenie, to seduce Pootie Tang into signing an agreement that would neutralize his influence on America's children.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
The film begins with Pootie Tang sitting for a TV interview where a movie clip is played. The clip reveals Pootie's backstory: he inherited a belt from his father, Daddy Tang, who died after being mauled by a gorilla at a steel mill. Pootie became a celebrity for singing, producing hits, and using his belt to defeat wrongdoers. LecterCorp's COO, Dick Lecter, seeks to stop Pootie's influence and sends Ireenie to seduce him. Pootie falls for the trick, loses his pop culture status, and goes on a quest to 'find [him]self' on a farm. There, he has a vision of his parents, who reveal the belt's power comes from his own goodness. After defeating the villain Dirty Dee and his henchman Froggy, Pootie returns to the city. He discovers Lecter has created dozens of 'Pootie-alikes' to spread LecterCorp's message. With the help of his friend Biggie Shorty, Pootie defeats the henchmen and Lecter. Good triumphs, Pootie marries Biggie Shorty, and Lecter becomes an actor while Ireenie becomes a counselor.
- Original title
- Pootie Tang in Sine Your Pitty on the Runny Kine
- First release year
- 2001
- Runtime (minutes)
- 81
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Louis C.K.
- Writers
- Louis C.K. · writer
- Cast and characters
- Lance Crouther; Jennifer Coolidge; Wanda Sykes; Robert Vaughn; Chris Rock
- Genres
- comedy; action; satire
- Themes
- Good vs. Evil; Corporate Greed; Identity
- Tone and mood
- Satirical; Absurdist; Vulgar
- Setting
- A small town outside Gary, Indiana, and a city in the United States during the early 2000s.
- Premise and plot tags
- Blaxploitation Satire; Cult Classic; Anti-comedy
- Source material / true-story basis
- A comedy sketch that first appeared on The Chris Rock Show.
- Content notes
- Depiction of women
- Reception
- The film was a box office bomb and received generally negative critical reviews for its humor and depiction of women, though it has since gained a cult following.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 27% · review count: 45; Rotten Tomatoes · score: 3.7/10 · scale: 10; Metacritic · score: 31 · review count: 19
- Production trivia
- Louis C.K. was all but fired from the film during the editing phase.; The film was originally titled 'Pootie Tang in Sine Your Pitty on the Runny Kine'.; The character's speech is mostly unintelligible to the audience but understood by other characters.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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