Black filmmaker Rusty Cundieff is to be congratulated for his moviemaking intentions, summed up by a character in his latest effort, the romantic comedy "Sprung."
As a photographer who aspires to be a filmmaker, he tells his girlfriend (Tisha Campbell) that he wants to make movies about romance.
"Black movies?" she asks.
"Yes," he says.
And Campbell responds in mock disbelief: "No gangstas, no drugs, nobody gettin' shot? You ain't gonna make no money!"
In that sense, "Sprung" is a nice change from most movies with black protagonists. But, unfortunately, it's also quite juvenile, with silly slapstick and cartoon effects that undermine its better intentions.
The first half-hour is the worst, as Cundieff and Campbell meet at a party, along with their best friends, played by Joe Torry and Paula Jai Parker. When they arrive, Campbell and Parker describe the men as "dogs," and we see the guys they're talking about dressed in big, furry dog suits. Later, when Torry is knocked unconscious, we see animated birds and stars around his head.
Later, the film switches to a more settled, realistic tone, which makes every return to one of these ridiculous, off-the-wall bits of business more jarring and less funny.
Parker is a "gold-digger hoochie," who wears flamboyant clothes and wild wigs. Torry is a musclebound phony who takes an ATM receipt with a big balance and passes it off as his own to impress women. Naturally, they are a perfect match, but when they find out the truth about each other (after a night of wild sex), it's instant hate.
Cundieff and Campbell, meanwhile, are more sincere and begin building a genuine relationship. But since they're spending so much time with each other and ignoring their respective best friends, Torry and Parker team up to spoil the romance. Later, of course, they realize the error of their ways and try to bring their friends back together.
There is a joke late in the proceedings, when Torry says to Parker, "I ain't no Harry and you definitely ain't no Sally." But despite such protests, "When Harry Met Sally . . . " is exactly what Cundieff is striving for.
Sadly, it's more like "B*A*P*S" and "Booty Call."
"Sprung" does get better in its second half, but there are still too many off-the-wall antics that don't mesh well with the film's tone.
"Sprung" is rated R for graphic sex, some brief snippets of nudity (along with revealing outfits), profanity, vulgarity, some comic violence and marijuana smoking.