11/03: Maloney's Movie Reviews: Irish Jam
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I thought I would view a documentary that encompasses a genuine feel for modern Ireland--something that is sensitive to the current conflict, the waning Celtic Tiger, and yet true to her tumultuous past. So here is my review of Irish Jam.
The movie stars Eddie Griffin, a black actor who someone without cable may recognize from the former UPN network*. He plays “Irish Jams,” a down-on-his-luck ne'er-do-well living in South Central LA.
Irish Jams has some problems--his phone gets shut off and his stuff is thrown out the window by the landlord, who is evicting him. Meanwhile, he is also dodging his large, psycho ex-wife, Mo’Nique (she played a large angry woman in that other black person movie**). Yet despite all these hardships, he finds time to fill out a poetry contest application to win a pub in the nondescript town of Ballywood. And despite not having a phone or residence, the people of the town are able to locate him when he is chosen as the winner.
Irish Jams makes it to the island and shocks the local people when they find out he is black. They were not happy. (I think the director was trying to mirror Frederick Douglass’s experience in famine-torn 1845 Ireland.) Here, Irish Jams meets Maureen, played by Anna Friel (she is on that show "Pushing Daises"--yeah, I haven’t seen it either). From now on, I will call her Hot Irish Jams, or HIJ for short. So, HIJ explains to Irish Jams how an evil English landlord was trying to evict everyone from the land.
This is when Terry called me and asked what I was doing for St. Patrick’s Day. I told him I had intended to go to the south-side parade this year, despite last year’s incident. The incident was that I had asked my friend Digital to go back to my cousin’s house and grab some beer for us so we could partake in the Irish tradition of drinking beer on the street from red Solo cups. However, he had mistakenly gone to their neighbors' house, walked in, and grabbed their beer. On the way out, he was stopped by the owner of the house who asked what he was doing. At this point, a few of the cans in his jacket fell onto the driveway. One of them got a small hole in it that sprayed all over the place. He picked it up and held it behind his back as he explained what he was doing there to the owner. Unfortunately, behind him was a mother holding her newborn infant, who received a beer shower.
So, when I came back to the movie, it looked like Irish Jams had sold his bar to the evil English landlord, giving him the whole town. After the townspeople learn this, a rolling brawl ensues that goes through barns, houses, pubs, etc. Irish Jams fights this quiet man. This quiet man is bigger, and holds his own against Irish Jams. The fight scene was very reminiscent of the classic Irish-American movie, Leprechaun in the Hood.
This is when Jen walked in, asking if I could open this jar. I couldn’t. This jar was not going to open. But, Irish Jams had taught me that just because something isn’t going your way doesn’t mean you have to do it. So I didn’t, I just put the jar on the counter and went back to the movie.
Unfortunately, the movie was over. However, I was saved by the grace of Irish Jams, who was rapping the plot of the movie during the closing credits. I mean, why don’t all movies have this? Seriously brilliant! As it turns out, Irish Jams tricked the landlord. Then, he rhymed "trophy wife" with "open mic." A lot of the song didn’t follow any time-line. I tried googling the lyrics but gave up after the second page--the way Irish Jams would have.
The End.
*Editor's Note: The show was "Malcolm and Eddie," also starring Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who played Theo on "The Cosby Show."
**Editor's Note: I think he means Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins, starring Martin Lawrence. Ironically, Mo'Nique also starred in her own UPN show, called "The Parkers," featuring teen actress Countess Vaughn, who later appeared as a contestant on "Celebrity Fat-Loss Rehab."
More Movie Reviews by Maloney: John Tucker Must Die, Bring It On 3: All or Nothing, Bring It On 4: In It to Win It
The movie stars Eddie Griffin, a black actor who someone without cable may recognize from the former UPN network*. He plays “Irish Jams,” a down-on-his-luck ne'er-do-well living in South Central LA.
Irish Jams has some problems--his phone gets shut off and his stuff is thrown out the window by the landlord, who is evicting him. Meanwhile, he is also dodging his large, psycho ex-wife, Mo’Nique (she played a large angry woman in that other black person movie**). Yet despite all these hardships, he finds time to fill out a poetry contest application to win a pub in the nondescript town of Ballywood. And despite not having a phone or residence, the people of the town are able to locate him when he is chosen as the winner.
Irish Jams makes it to the island and shocks the local people when they find out he is black. They were not happy. (I think the director was trying to mirror Frederick Douglass’s experience in famine-torn 1845 Ireland.) Here, Irish Jams meets Maureen, played by Anna Friel (she is on that show "Pushing Daises"--yeah, I haven’t seen it either). From now on, I will call her Hot Irish Jams, or HIJ for short. So, HIJ explains to Irish Jams how an evil English landlord was trying to evict everyone from the land.
This is when Terry called me and asked what I was doing for St. Patrick’s Day. I told him I had intended to go to the south-side parade this year, despite last year’s incident. The incident was that I had asked my friend Digital to go back to my cousin’s house and grab some beer for us so we could partake in the Irish tradition of drinking beer on the street from red Solo cups. However, he had mistakenly gone to their neighbors' house, walked in, and grabbed their beer. On the way out, he was stopped by the owner of the house who asked what he was doing. At this point, a few of the cans in his jacket fell onto the driveway. One of them got a small hole in it that sprayed all over the place. He picked it up and held it behind his back as he explained what he was doing there to the owner. Unfortunately, behind him was a mother holding her newborn infant, who received a beer shower.
So, when I came back to the movie, it looked like Irish Jams had sold his bar to the evil English landlord, giving him the whole town. After the townspeople learn this, a rolling brawl ensues that goes through barns, houses, pubs, etc. Irish Jams fights this quiet man. This quiet man is bigger, and holds his own against Irish Jams. The fight scene was very reminiscent of the classic Irish-American movie, Leprechaun in the Hood.
This is when Jen walked in, asking if I could open this jar. I couldn’t. This jar was not going to open. But, Irish Jams had taught me that just because something isn’t going your way doesn’t mean you have to do it. So I didn’t, I just put the jar on the counter and went back to the movie.
Unfortunately, the movie was over. However, I was saved by the grace of Irish Jams, who was rapping the plot of the movie during the closing credits. I mean, why don’t all movies have this? Seriously brilliant! As it turns out, Irish Jams tricked the landlord. Then, he rhymed "trophy wife" with "open mic." A lot of the song didn’t follow any time-line. I tried googling the lyrics but gave up after the second page--the way Irish Jams would have.
The End.
*Editor's Note: The show was "Malcolm and Eddie," also starring Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who played Theo on "The Cosby Show."
**Editor's Note: I think he means Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins, starring Martin Lawrence. Ironically, Mo'Nique also starred in her own UPN show, called "The Parkers," featuring teen actress Countess Vaughn, who later appeared as a contestant on "Celebrity Fat-Loss Rehab."
More Movie Reviews by Maloney: John Tucker Must Die, Bring It On 3: All or Nothing, Bring It On 4: In It to Win It