Simply Black (2020) Poster

(2020)

User Reviews

Review this title
9 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
6/10
It hits somewhere right
schamarande31 July 2020
Jean-Pascal Zadi has that thing to make you cringe-laugh with how close he hits home. This comedy is important for addressing identity introspection, which is understandably a huge topic in France, even more so if you were raised in an immigrant family. Regarding the story itself, I found it lacked proper development. I couldn't see a clear arc and the plot progressed without a snatch, so no tension comedy-wise or other. By the end of the movie, I felt we were still midway.
11 out of 14 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
Powerful comedy
sam-979038 July 2020
Political, neat, edgy, stirring and incredibly funny, "Tout Simplement Noir" transcends its nature as a sketch film to offer a fascinating portrait of a France in the midst of identity introspection.
19 out of 22 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
Release it in the USA!
seamallowance27 April 2021
Sure would like to see this film, but it was only shown briefly on a French Film festival tour. It is now impossible to obtain with English subtitles.
5 out of 7 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
3/10
Not practical for English audiences
LindsayFlim20 March 2021
I found this difficult to follow since the dialogue is unforgivingly French and thus the speed of it was not conducive for reading all the lines with subtitles. Would have been better for the English release if they dubbed the whole movie in English, like they did to reel us in with the English dubbed trailer.
3 out of 33 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
I love it
boboceaelena20 March 2021
I love how they make fun of all the insanity that goes around in USA.
7 out of 9 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
Funny and True
claudinou4 August 2020
I laughed during the whole movie and couldn't disagree with any of the messages of this movie. This cleverly shows all the issues of organizing a black man protest iin France in front of us. I had never seen any media showing how diverse the "black" category is this well.
12 out of 18 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
Funny, bumbling and moving
mr-anthony-938-19496525 August 2021
Portraying himself as a bumbling activist who keeps rubbing people the wrong way, Jean-Pascal has created a goofy yet poignant mockumentary exploring the complexities and difficulties of being black and French. Lovers of french cinema will also be rewarded with many surprise appearances of celebrities who, like this film, poke fun at themselves but over a compelling subtext. One negative is that this film doesn't pass the Bechdel test. While there is a very humorous scene in which Jean-Pascal the character is confronted with this for his activism, I would've liked if Jean-Pascal the director could have rectified it for his film. Overall though this is a must-watch which will make you laugh a lot and pause to reflect a bit too.
5 out of 7 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
I genuinely loved it!
heenatariq27 June 2022
Very powerful message delivered in a very natural manner.

Alot of the content out there shoves the theme/issue in your face to the point that it gets annoying to watch it.

However, Zadi does it with so much humanity that it resonates with you. This is something that'll stay with me.

100% recommend to anyone, irrespective of skin color, to give this a go.
3 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
Absolutely bleedin' hilarious
adrienneiii7 March 2024
JP Zadi is my new favourite comedian after watching Simply Black and Represent on Netflix. His basic schtick of the confused uncomfortable expression is already superb even though that's not generally the kind of humour that I go for. But underlying the dopey visage are very cutting observations on race and society that go both ways - critical of both majority and minority attitudes on many fronts. You couldn't make many of these jokes in the US, people have lost all ability to joke about racial issues, which is a terrible shame as it often serves to highlight real and important issues.

Unfortunately my French is a bit meh. Someone tell me where can I find more Zadi in English???
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed