Bamboozled

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2:31

Bamboozled

R,

2000,

2h 15m,

Comedy/

Drama

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54%

106 Reviews

Tomatometer

74%

5,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

54%

Tomatometer

106 Reviews

74%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

A blistering satire of network television's pitfalls and prejudices, a humorous look at how race, ratings and the pursuit of power lead to a television writer's stunning rise and tragic downfall. Pierre Delacroix, a young, Harvard-educated man, who is the sole person of color, writing for an upstart network with floundering ratings. Despite several attempts, Delacroix has yet to see any of his concepts go into production.

Critics Consensus

Bamboozled is too heavy-handed in its satire and comes across as more messy and overwrought than biting.

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K. Austin Collins

Vanity Fair

Mar 23, 2020

Audacious, vibrant, unsurprisingly maligned but frequently brilliant.

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Richard Brody

The New Yorker

Oct 26, 2015

Spike Lee's sharp, riotous satire, from 2000, zeroes in on the grotesque misrepresentation of blacks in American media-and their underrepresentation in the corporate offices that control it.

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Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

Sep 23, 2010

4/5

Provocative Spike Lee movie for older teens.

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KT Mahe

For Your Reference Podcast

Feb 18, 2025

4.5/5

Bamboozled exists to serve as a reminder that the message will always be raw with Spike Lee and he is the King of Satire.

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Oti

For Your Reference Podcast

Feb 18, 2025

4/5

Bamboozled starts bold & fearless, delivering a sharp satirical punch. Spike Lee crafts a rightfully polarising, vital commentary on race & media.

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Feb 14, 2022

4/4

Even if Lee's only intent with Bamboozled was to ignite fiery discourse about race and representation in entertainment, his film remains a rousing achievement as both art and a social prompt.

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Ron P

Mar 1, 2019

Lee made a deliberately difficult movie here, it never moves in the directions you suspect and you have to adjust your perspective accordingly. This is something beyond satire and it deserves more serious examination.

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Ron S

Sep 24, 2018

A film that was before its time! A cautionary tale of what comes in the industry. Tommy Davidson and Jada Pinkett have stand out performances!

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Hagrid R

Mar 14, 2018

One of the earliest exposures I had to absolute anarchy posing as a political message. Spike Lee is like a rabid Quentin Tarantino, too agitated to speak clearly, but too brilliant to tune out.

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Feb 26, 2018

Very thought provoking film. Definitely worth seeing! .

George R

Mar 25, 2017

What. The. Actual. Frig. Was. That? I'm embarrassed for whomever was involved in this nonsense. Jada Pinkett was the only one who could act worth a nickel in this film. Spike Lee has a spectrum along which to place his works. Towards the good end, you have Malcolm X, Inside Man, and School Daze. Towards the good-Lawd-what-is-this end is Chiraq and Bamboozled. Total nonsense. And several scraps of total nonsense pasted together to make one total nonsense of a film. This was supposed to be a social commentary on a problem that hasn't existed for decades. He should have done a film set in the period in which minstrel shows proliferated. In the 90s, TV and film were actually much better curators of the African-American image in media, while music still portrays African-Americans as philandering, misogynistic criminals. I know Spike Lee has a personal problem with Tyler Perry. Maybe this was directed towards him. But this was a huge, big, fat FAIL!

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Bamboozled: Trailer 1

2:31

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Synopsis

A blistering satire of network television's pitfalls and prejudices, a humorous look at how race, ratings and the pursuit of power lead to a television writer's stunning rise and tragic downfall. Pierre Delacroix, a young, Harvard-educated man, who is the sole person of color, writing for an upstart network with floundering ratings. Despite several attempts, Delacroix has yet to see any of his concepts go into production.

Director: Spike Lee
Producer: Spike Lee, Jon Kilik
Screenwriter: Spike Lee
Distributor: New Line Cinema
Production Co: New Line Cinema, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks
Rating: R (Strong Language|Some Violence)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 20, 2000, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 6, 2020
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.2M
Runtime: 2h 15m
Sound Mix: Dolby SR, Dolby Digital, Surround
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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