Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Movies

Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores

Wide Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Limited Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

58 (Untitled)
96 35 Shots of Rum
56 Adam
39 Adventures of Power
66 Afterschool
73 Amreeka
49 Antichrist
76 Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86 Beaches of Agnes, The
71 Big Fan
65 Black Dynamite
76 Bliss
26 Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
44 Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81 Bright Star
76 Broken Embraces
70 Bronson
62 Cloud 9
65 Coco Before Chanel
69 Cold Souls
60 Collapse
82 Cove, The
75 Crude
82 Damned United, The
53 Dare
50 Defamation
67 Departures
70 Earth Days
85 Education, An
55 Endgame
88 Fantastic Mr. Fox
31 Fix
49 Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80 Food, Inc.
xx From Mexico with Love
28 Gentlemen Broncos
72 Good Hair
89 Goodbye Solo
63 Horse Boy, The
74 House of the Devil, The
xx How to Seduce Difficult Women
26 I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
70 It Might Get Loud
46 Killing Kasztner
43 Little Traitor, The
34 Looking for Palladin
80 Lorna's Silence
46 Love Hurts
84 Maid, The
45 Mammoth
75 Messenger, The
55 Missing Person, The
59 More Than a Game
34 Motherhood
62 My One and Only
48 New York, I Love You
66 No Impact Man
26 Oh My God
68 Paranormal Activity
68 Paris
79 Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
73 Red Cliff
69 September Issue, The
79 Serious Man, A
65 Skin
41 Splinterheads
42 Staten Island
50 Stoning of Soraya M., The
58 Storm
82 Sun, The
49 Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon
73 That Evening Sun
61 Trucker
49 Turning Green
83 U2 3D
45 Uncertainty
67 Visual Acoustics
32 War on Kids
67 Way We Get By, The
65 Wedding Song, The
xx White on Rice
59 William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe
74 Woman in Berlin, A
43 Women in Trouble
69 Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Undercover Brother

EMAILPRINTMCA / Universal Pictures

Undercover Brother reviews
69
6.9 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 30 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 21 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >

Movie Info

Genre(s): Comedy

Written by: John Ridley (also story)
Michael McCullers

Directed by: Malcolm D. Lee

Release Date:
Theatrical: May 31, 2002
DVD: January 14, 2003

Running Time: 91 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: PG-13 for language, sexual humor, drug content and campy violence

Starring Eddie Griffin, James Brown, Chris Kattan, Denise Richards, David Chappelle, Aunjanue Ellis, Neil Patrick Harris, and Billy Dee Williams

A live-action comedy based on Urban Media's popular website series.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Film Threat Marcus D. Russell

See this film and laugh your ass off, and in between your tears of joy learn the true cause of racial and ethnic division.

Read Full Review >
90

Newsweek Devin Gordon

Hilarious, affectionate spoof.

88

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

The movie isn't just hilarious: It's witty and inventive, too, and in hindsight, it isn't even all that dumb.

Read Full Review >
83

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

It's a goofball of a movie and a throwaway, but it's also completely free of self-import and the slightest hint of sentiment -- a perfect light entertainment that's guaranteed to launch itself as a franchise.

80

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

A joyful mix of high and low humor, pulled off with style and an eye for glamour (Danielle Hollowell deserves special praise for her costumes; she's the high priestess of fitted snakeskin).

Read Full Review >
80

Los Angeles Times Jan Stuart

A funkadelic fun ride that shrewdly reinvigorates the eye-popping styles and pulpy veneer of '70s blaxploitation flicks.

Read Full Review >
80

New Times (L.A.) Gregory Weinkauf

Not only is Undercover Brother the funniest spy-thriller since "The Nude Bomb" (oh, behave), it feels like the proper sequel to "The Blues Brothers," crossing all kinds of lines between cartoonish buffoonery and genuine compassion for its characters.

80

LA Weekly Mark Olsen

The film works no matter which side of the racial divide you're on, because nothing unites an audience quite like making fun of everyone.

Read Full Review >
80

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

The rare popcorn movie that delivers. High-spirited and kinetic, it's the most endearingly goofy low comedy since "How High."

Read Full Review >
80

Variety Joe Leydon

A frequently inspired hit-and-miss burlesque that definitely hits more than it misses.

Read Full Review >
80

Chicago Reader Cheryl Ross

This send-up of 70s blaxploitation flicks mixes parody and social commentary to make larger points about the current state of American culture and race relations. The audience I saw the film with was almost choking with laughter.

Read Full Review >
80

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

May well wind up being the smartest bonehead comedy of the summer.

Read Full Review >
75

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Malcolm Lee's brilliant documentary about American race relations.

Read Full Review >
75

USA Today Claudia Puig

The soundtrack (which includes James Brown, Michael Jackson and The Commodores) is better than a K-Tel "Best of the '70s" compilation, and the broad physical comedy is as reliable as a brick house.

Read Full Review >
75

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

This is a smart, spirited spoof that will leave you with a smile on your face - and an appetite for some serious '70s funk to play on the eight-track in your solid gold Cadillac convertible.

Read Full Review >
75

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

It has a premise that never stops percolating.

75

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Seems breezier and less self-conscious than the Mike Myers franchise.

Read Full Review >
75

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Satires like this tend to throw a lot of stuff at the wall, and in Undercover Brother, a surprising amount sticks.

75

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

The picture is crammed with shameless satire, engaging moments of pure silliness and jokes that border on the outrageous. It combines relentless energy with an aura of good nature for a formula that works.

Read Full Review >
75

Chicago Tribune Mark Caro

Has such a cheerfully zingy energy that you keep rooting for it even when its jokes turn flatter than a jump shot at a YMCA pickup game.

Read Full Review >
67

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Griffin & Co. manage to be spectacularly outrageous, several of the gag sequences are hilariously imaginative and there's something almost deliciously liberating in the film's determination to make good-natured fun of what previously has been a very sacred movie cow.

Read Full Review >
67

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

It's far from perfect -- as many jokes fall flat as succeed -- but like Undercover Brother himself, it's smarter than most, and twice as solid.

Read Full Review >
63

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

Boisterously amusing.

Read Full Review >
63

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jason Anderson

Undercover Brother is very much a hero of our time. After all, the character began not in the 1970s, but three years ago as a cartoon on a Web site.

Read Full Review >
60

The New York Times Dana Stevens

The one-liners are clever enough and the physical comedy and pop-culture goofing sufficiently dumb and broad to make Undercover Brother, a reasonably pleasant experience.

Read Full Review >
58

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Lee's images of black and white stereotypes are agreeably silly yet altogether too thin and vanilla safe.

Read Full Review >
50

Village Voice Dennis Lim

Much of Undercover Brother plays as a funnier, if similarly addled, "Bamboozled."

Read Full Review >
40

TV Guide Steve Simels

Saturday Night Live veteran Chris Kattan more or less steals the film as the racially confused Mr. Feather, a white supremacist bad guy whose speech patterns tend to get down and funky against his will.

Read Full Review >
40

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Some of it is funny in a Zucker brothers slapstick way. And as the Man's geeky lieutenant, Chris Kattan has some amusingly kooky business. But there's not enough to sustain the comedy. Ultimately, the movie's short running time becomes its finest quality.

Read Full Review >
25

Boston Globe Renee Graham

Tries to wring laughs from just about every dusty stereotype about blacks and whites imaginable. But it's all cheap, lazy, and unoriginal.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 6.9 (out of 10) based on 21 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

L-dog Stah gave it a10:
Undercover Brother is da bomb. Get it on DVD. On first viewing, you'll probably miss some of the jokes, as they are very subtle, but multiple screenings will reveal even more laughs! Eddie Griffin does a fantastic job leading a briliiant cast including Dave Chapelle, Chris Kattan and even a chameo from James Brown. If you are the type that enjoys light-hearted comedies, such as Deuce Bigalow and Wedding Crashers, you'll fall in love with Undercover Brother.

Becca P. gave it a 0:
Um, excuse me but HOW THE HELL did this movie get a 70? Its plain stupid...NO LAUGHS AND NO MEANING!

Jeff S. gave it a 0:
Almost unwatchable, I think I laughed two or three times.

P gave it a 0:
WORTHLESS!!!

Louis P. gave it a 10:
This movie really surprised me. It was hillarious and original. One of last year's best films. This movie puts to shame the Austin Powers franchise. Any movie with a good performance from Mrs. Charlie Sheen is a must.

Sam B. gave it a 4:
This lame sex farce can hardly be considered entertainment and it delivers very few laughs. i guess maybe if your bored and youre up for a rude crude lewd comic extravaganza then you could watch it. otherwise steer clear.

[Anonymous] gave it a 10:
Funniest movie ever. Period. End of discussion. It's not even stupid! Praise GOD!

Read more user comments >

Popular on CBS sites: SEC Football | NFL | Video Game Cheats | iPhone | Video Game Reviews | Notebooks | Antivirus Software

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy (UPDATED) | Terms of Use