''Strictly Business'' should do some nifty business for Warner Bros., both as a theatrical release and a rental. A comedy about a straitlaced, over-pressed black executive with Brooks Brothers taste, ''Strictly Business'' should hip-hop to particular success among buppie viewers and middle-class blacks long burned out by seeing only gang-bangers, jazz artists and crack addicts representing themselves on the screen.
In this engaging '90s comedy, Joseph C. Phillips stars as Waymon Tinsdale III, a buttoned-down, black real estate exec who's on the partner track with New York's largest real estate brokerage house.
While good-natured and resilient, Waymon's pretty much of a grind: He's happiest when crunching numbers and burning the midnight oil. His idea of letting loose is to order up a lime with his club soda, which is about as much slack as his materialistic, bossy girlfriend (Anne Marie Johnson) will allow him to deviate from the yuppie norm.
But nose-to-the-grindstone Waymon has no intention of becoming his girlfriend's beast of burden: He's got an inner spark and it's ignited by a fetchingly beautiful dancer (Halle Berry) whose free-spirited ways snap him to his long-repressed senses.
Lacing together some time-tested screwball comedy elements onto a modern-day, ''Secret of My Success''-type satire of corporate America, ''Strictly Business'' is a pleasingly snappy social comedy.
Admittedly, its plot line, while arcing to generic perfection, is on the slight side, and its character development is often pencil thin. Nevertheless, screenwriters Pam Gibson and Nelson George have laced ''Business'' with a steady stream of social insights and pithy perspectives, which in zippy succession are probably far more potent than a shelf full of correct-minded, sociological folderol.
Director Kevin Hooks' loosey-goosey, chill-out touch is perfect throughout, keeping the pace lively and the comedy fresh. While some parts are not fleshed out beyond sit-com dimension, the lead players' performances are full-tone and true-to-the-mark.
As the workaholic exec who realizes there is more to life than BMWs and exotic vacations, Phillips smartly shows the inner fiber of this smooth guy's character. Phillips brings understated dimension to his dilemma of being caught between two worlds -- the Brahmins in the boardroom and the street dudes of Harlem view him with similar alarm.
Perhaps most entertaining is Tommy Davidson as Bobby Johnson, the company's street-smart mail clerk whose aspirations, too, are directed to the partnership level. While her role is generically glossy, Halle Berry's nifty turn as the dance-girl-with-dreams lifts that part to credible human proportion.
Tech contributions are strictly up-scale, with special plaudits to costumer Beulah Jones-Black for the telling mix of cross-cultural threads and to cinematographer Zoltan David for the fittingly glowing sheen to this slice of the American Dream.
STRICTLY BUSINESS
Warner Bros.
In association with Island World
An Andre Harrell Production
Producers Andre Harrell, Pam Gibson
Director Kevin Hooks
Screenwriters Pam Gibson, Nelson George
Executive producers Mark Burg, Chris Zarpas
Co-producer David Kappes
Director of photography Zoltan David
Editor Richard Nord
Music Michel Colombier
Production designer Ruth Ammon
Casting directors Julie Mossberg, Brian Chavanne
Costume designer Beulah Jones-Black
Sound mixers Lawrence Hoff, Thomas Nelson
Color/Stereo
Cast:
Bobby Johnson Tommy Davidson
Waymon Tinsdale III Joseph C. Phillips
Diedre LaSalle Anne Marie Johnson
David David Marshall Grant
Natalie Halle Berry
Running time -- 83 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
In this engaging '90s comedy, Joseph C. Phillips stars as Waymon Tinsdale III, a buttoned-down, black real estate exec who's on the partner track with New York's largest real estate brokerage house.
While good-natured and resilient, Waymon's pretty much of a grind: He's happiest when crunching numbers and burning the midnight oil. His idea of letting loose is to order up a lime with his club soda, which is about as much slack as his materialistic, bossy girlfriend (Anne Marie Johnson) will allow him to deviate from the yuppie norm.
But nose-to-the-grindstone Waymon has no intention of becoming his girlfriend's beast of burden: He's got an inner spark and it's ignited by a fetchingly beautiful dancer (Halle Berry) whose free-spirited ways snap him to his long-repressed senses.
Lacing together some time-tested screwball comedy elements onto a modern-day, ''Secret of My Success''-type satire of corporate America, ''Strictly Business'' is a pleasingly snappy social comedy.
Admittedly, its plot line, while arcing to generic perfection, is on the slight side, and its character development is often pencil thin. Nevertheless, screenwriters Pam Gibson and Nelson George have laced ''Business'' with a steady stream of social insights and pithy perspectives, which in zippy succession are probably far more potent than a shelf full of correct-minded, sociological folderol.
Director Kevin Hooks' loosey-goosey, chill-out touch is perfect throughout, keeping the pace lively and the comedy fresh. While some parts are not fleshed out beyond sit-com dimension, the lead players' performances are full-tone and true-to-the-mark.
As the workaholic exec who realizes there is more to life than BMWs and exotic vacations, Phillips smartly shows the inner fiber of this smooth guy's character. Phillips brings understated dimension to his dilemma of being caught between two worlds -- the Brahmins in the boardroom and the street dudes of Harlem view him with similar alarm.
Perhaps most entertaining is Tommy Davidson as Bobby Johnson, the company's street-smart mail clerk whose aspirations, too, are directed to the partnership level. While her role is generically glossy, Halle Berry's nifty turn as the dance-girl-with-dreams lifts that part to credible human proportion.
Tech contributions are strictly up-scale, with special plaudits to costumer Beulah Jones-Black for the telling mix of cross-cultural threads and to cinematographer Zoltan David for the fittingly glowing sheen to this slice of the American Dream.
STRICTLY BUSINESS
Warner Bros.
In association with Island World
An Andre Harrell Production
Producers Andre Harrell, Pam Gibson
Director Kevin Hooks
Screenwriters Pam Gibson, Nelson George
Executive producers Mark Burg, Chris Zarpas
Co-producer David Kappes
Director of photography Zoltan David
Editor Richard Nord
Music Michel Colombier
Production designer Ruth Ammon
Casting directors Julie Mossberg, Brian Chavanne
Costume designer Beulah Jones-Black
Sound mixers Lawrence Hoff, Thomas Nelson
Color/Stereo
Cast:
Bobby Johnson Tommy Davidson
Waymon Tinsdale III Joseph C. Phillips
Diedre LaSalle Anne Marie Johnson
David David Marshall Grant
Natalie Halle Berry
Running time -- 83 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
- 11/5/1991
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.