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American Pimp
Seventh Art Releasing


9.2

based on 19 reviews
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How did we calculate this?

based on 5 votes
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MPAA RATING: R for pervasive sexual content including dialogue, strong language and some drug related material

Starring Rosebud, Schaunette, Bradley, and C-Note

This documentary looks at the lives of real pimps; particularly African-Americans. The history of the pimp in American is also detailed.

GENRE(S):	Documentary
DIRECTED BY:	Albert Hughes Allen Hughes
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: October 17, 2000 Video: October 17, 2000 Theatrical: June 9, 2000
RUNNING TIME:	86 minutes, Color / BW
ORIGIN:	USA

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...

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Supple and engrossing, a liquid-smooth street-rap testimonial.

Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard

Never less than riveting.

Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan

Entertaining, disturbing, sad, outrageous and often hilarious.

Chicago Tribune Mark Caro

Eighty-six minutes proves to be more than enough time to spend with these characters, but the Hughes Brothers make the case that this is a subculture as compelling as it is repellent.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Genuinely entertaining and, thanks to a well of self-deluded quotes from the men, shockingly funny.

Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday

A lively, compulsively watchable but ultimately sobering film about the men who make their living off prostitution.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

What we are left with is a mildly entertaining "man on the street" gloss, seasoned with fragments from blaxploitation movies and music by Isaac Hayes, Marvin Gaye and others.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Alternately mind-expanding and brain-numbing.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

Unfortunately, you really only hear about prostitution from the side of the pimp.

San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris

Most of American Pimp feels like you've been slipped a Mickey.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

American Pimp, if not quite a self-serving orgy of self-justification, can hardly be thought of as a searching look at the skin trade.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

One gets a pungent look at what makes being a pimp look attractive to some people in certain circumstances.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

It's funny stuff, though most of the pimps seem like such buffoons it's hard to imagine how they actually make a living.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

Fascinating, partly because of its originality.

San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann

Lushly entertaining, and its subjects are terrific storytellers with style to burn.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

The dehumanizing aspect of pimping is what's scariest about the Hughes brothers' investigation--so powerful the filmmakers realize they need only to record it.

Time Richard Schickel

Loutishness without self-awareness remains loutishness--and it is finally depressing.

LA Weekly Erin Aubry

Credit the Hugheses for plunging headfirst into a deeply taboo topic, but they're doing it for the wrong reasons and thus playing into the worst of public stereotypes, namely that all black men are hustlers.

Film.com Ernest Hardy

Appalling because it never transcends its adolescent-boy glee at being allowed entry to the highly sexualized arena of prostitution.

The average user rating for this movie is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Yvonda H. gave it a9:
This movie is hilarious! I think it is so hilariously funny because those portrayed are dead serious. I would recommend watching it if you need a good laugh.

Al R. gave it a 7:
It was pretty good.

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American Pimp Seventh Art Releasing

American Pimp
Seventh Art Releasing