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Chappelle's real show

Filmed in 2004, the concert-documentary gives audiences a glimpse of the comedian in his element - and plenty of exciting music.

By Steve Persall
Published March 2, 2006

Dave Chappelle's Block Party was filmed in 2004, eight months before the popular comedian's bizarre self-exile to South Africa, so don't expect the documentary to offer an explanation of why he did it. However, armchair psychologists may detect a few clues, if they're not on their feet dancing.

Chappelle's disappearing act jeopardized a $50-million contract with Comedy Central to continue his variety show, for reasons he's just getting around to explaining vaguely on talk shows. He claims it wasn't anything scandalous; the weight of such fame and fortune simply became too much to bear. Apparently the deal, and Chappelle's psyche, are patched up now.

Block Party, directed without flourishes by Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), takes viewers back to a rainy September 2004 day in Brooklyn that Chappelle claims is the best day of his professional career. Nowhere to go but down from there, perhaps.

Chappelle footed the bill for the ultimate rap, hip-hop, trip-hop and neo-blues concert, the show he says he always wanted to see. The lineup is a monster: Kanye West, Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Common, a reunion of the Fugees and Dead Prez are among the acts. The house band backing everyone was the Roots, for crying out loud. Anyone wondering who these musicians are probably won't like the movie. Those in the know will be blown away.

Through it all, Chappelle has the appearance of someone relieved not to be the center of attention for a change. Not that he doesn't grab the spotlight every now and then. But it's with easy jokes and half-hearted improvisations, things that don't require the kind of brilliance $50-million buys. Hearing people laugh at anything he says is reassuring. The block party seems to remind Chappelle who he wants to please: not network executives but everyday people and himself. Eight months later, that feeling may have pushed him over the edge and onto a plane bound for South Africa.

Chappelle returned sounding like someone who wants to make a social difference through entertainment, perhaps as Richard Pryor did. Block Party suggests that he already had the urge but doesn't know exactly how to do it. The comedian goes back to the small Ohio town where he lives to invite residents - several of them white and middle-aged - to Brooklyn for the show, paying their transportation and lodging costs.

It's a potential cultural experiment that Gondry almost entirely ignores, the film's most glaring fault. What does a white, 50-ish convenience store clerk, or a black Midwestern probation officer, or a white councilman think about the Bed-Stuy vibe? We barely get any chance to find out. The music and Chappelle's comedy riffs take precedence over diversity issues. But the fact that the comedian attempted such an unlikely cultural blend means something clicked in his head in 2004. After Africa, it might be handled differently.

Block Party is packed with outstanding musical numbers Gondry's editing sometimes interrupts, from West backed by a college marching band on Jesus Walks, to Lauryn Hill's hypnotic Killing Me Softly with His Song. Acts such as Dead Prez and Talib Kweli make the impressions that mainstream radio playlists won't allow. We're reminded that before he was a fine actor, Mos Def was throwing down terrific rap lyrics. Block Party is what it is and that's enough. Next time, you get the feeling Chappelle will make it something more.

Steve Persall can be reached at (727) 893-8365 or persall@sptimes.com.

Dave Chappelle's Block Party

Grade: B+

Director: Michel Gondry

Cast: Dave Chappelle, Mos Def, Kanye West, the Roots, the Fugees, Erykah Badu, Dead Prez, Talib Kweli, Jill Scott, Cody Chestnutt, Ohio?s Central State University marching band

Rating: R; harsh profanity

Running time: 100 min.

[Last modified March 2, 2006, 14:39:19]