Fakin' Da Funk (1997) Reviews

A theme of racial harmony underlies this comedy-drama. The couple Joe (Ernie Hudson) and Annabelle Lee (Pam Grier) learn the baby they are adopting is not black but Chinese. As Julian Lee (Dante Basco), reaches teen-hood, his father dies and the adopted boy moves with his mom to Atlanta. Here he hopes to make friends with the local teens, who are somewhat perplexed by the Asian-American's hip-hop slang and high scores when he grabs the basketball. Julian intervenes when his younger brother Perry (Rashaan Nall) falls in with local gangsta Frog (Tone Loc) and his group. Meanwhile, in a parallel plot, similar problems surface for clueless foreign-exchange student May-Ling (Margaret Cho). She's baffled to find herself living with a black family, a situation leading to inventive cross-cultural comedy. The film's soundtrack combines hip-hop, funk, and Asian instrumentals. Shown at the 1997 Hamptons Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi