Saturday, March 26, 2011
bad/awesome flixxx review: Doctor Detroit (1983)
"He's bad. I mean the Doctor is Baaaad. He's scares me Mom."- Smooth Walker
"Mom, I will rip off your head and shit down your neck."- Doctor Detroit
"You want me to kick your ass? Then I'm gonna kick your white motherfucking ass!"- Diavlo
Yet another flick I haven't seen in many many years. This one holds up too if you're looking for a strange, long out of print comedy. I was always a Dan Aykroyd fan, and this one just so happens to be his 2nd flick alongside JAMES BROWN. The godfather of soul once again performs in the film in an awesome ballroom scene during a player's ball. I found the soundtrack on vinyl recently in Austin, Texas at Antone's. A great find as it has 2 James Brown songs AND 2 Devo songs made specifically for the movie. In fact the title theme "Doctor Detroit" was written by Devo and isn't included on any other recording. Needless to say these are 2 of my favorite artists, so it was almost ingrained into the movie that I would like it, or at least be attracted to seeing it. Unfortunately it flopped at the box office, and the sequel that was being penned by Aykroyd was tossed. SO- Dan Aykroyd, James Brown, Howard Hesseman, Fran Drescher, TK Carter and Donna Dixon star in DOCTOR DETROIT!!!
So this flick starts out with our man Clifford Skriddlow power walking to his job as a professor at Monroe college. On the way over he passes by a pimp named Smooth Walker picking up his chicks for a new day of work. they make fun of him but say his legs are cute. His dad is like the dean of the college and is pretty much freaking out the whole flick because theyre broke, hoping that this one dude brings them an endowment check so they can keep the school open.
Once Smooth Walker has dropped off his hoes, he is surrounded in his limo by a bunch of goons from a rival pimp lady named Mom. they run him off the road and take him to speak with Mom, to whom he owes 80,000 bucks. She is gonna kill him but he says he's got a new partner who is bad, and is taking over. He makes up the name Doctor Detroit from shit she has on the wall behind her and she lets him go vowing to find and talk to this Doctor.
Now its up to Smooth Walker and Diavolo his driver to come up with a patsy to pin all the shit on before Mom kills him. So he goes to dinner at this Indian place that Skriddlow happens to go to. The girls notice him and they invite him over, and procede to get him wasted and show him the night of his life. Then when he wakes up he has somehow agreed to work with Walker. But then he has to go to work at the college. Slowly Skriddlow finally realizes what he's got himself into long after Smooth Walker has skipped town.
Throughout the rest of the flick, Skriddlow poses as this character Doctor Detroit by dressing up in a wig with an iron hand, defeating Mom twice, once in a junkyard, and after the girls save his ass with the college they have a showdown at this fancy hotel where (classic setup) Skriddlow has to be in 2 places at once, a dinner for the college where they get the money they need, and as Doctor Detroit receiving "player of the year" at the annual player's ball. A pretty awesome flick with a great soundtrack. Not a four star feature for sure, but if you love 80s comedies, this one is a must see. James Brown was a dancing motherfucker. I absolutely wish I could pull off a full split. We can always dream.
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