#266: Blankman
Release Date: August 19th, 1994
Format: Streaming (Tubi)
Written by: J.F. Lawton and Damon Wayans
Directed by: Mike Binder
3 Stars
Instead of being born into wealth, what if Batman was broke and lived with his grandma? And what if he was black?
That was essentially the idea that inspired Damon Wayans, at the height of his In Living Color fame, to write Blankman.
It’s a great, great character.
At the same time Wayans was writing Blankman, his In Living Color colleague and friend Jim Carrey was writing his first big starring vehicle, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Like Blankman, Ace Ventura is also a great, great character.
Unfortunately for Wayans, Blankman opened poorly, got lost in the shuffle against some stiff summer blockbuster competition, and lost about $20 million at the box office, more or less ending his future as a comic who can reliably open a big Hollywood comedy. I would say poor critical reviews also damaged the perception of Blankman, but Ace Ventura was dogged by critics as well and still went on to earn over $100 million (Ebert famously loathed Ace Ventura upon its release).
There is some alternate reality where it’s Blankman that pops with the public and Ace Ventura is the one fizzles out. It’s not like a black Batman-wannabe in red pajamas is any more ridiculous than a private detective who only finds missing pets. Wayans and Carrey were both working from the same silly, hyperbolic character-work they popularized on In Living Color.
I suppose the difference between the two films is that Ace Ventura creates a consistent world in which its ridiculous character can exist. Everybody is more or less playing it straight in a film about a kidnapped dolphin, and it’s Ace that gets to ham it up.
Blankman, in contrast, is a bit all over the place. There are some pretty wild tonal shifts (for example, Blankman’s beloved grandma is machine-gunned to death by the film’s mafioso antagonist, which is directly followed by a scene at her somber funeral that’s played for laughs, where Blankman cries and uses his brother’s handkerchief to loudly blow his nose). It’s as if Wayans knows exactly who Blankman the character is, but he’s not exactly sure what Blankman the movie is.
So why my generous 3 star rating? Well, because the character is just so damn sweet, Wayans’ chemistry with his brother in the film (played by David Alan Grier) is great, and the movie is really funny. Watch the scene where Blankman saves a prostitute from getting slapped around by her pimp, only to be slapped around himself. Or the scene where Blankman’s trusty robot sidekick J-5 must throw himself down flights of stairs to save Blankman, who is trapped in a slowly filling water tank.
You’ll laugh and laugh at Blankman’s silly antics, even though you’ll wish Blankman’s silly movie was just a little bit better.
