Pootie Tang (2001)

Superhero fights crime with his belt, speaks gibberish

Pootie Tang is a near-glorious mess of a movie – frenzied, fragmented, borderline incoherent (an 80 minute running time with over 10 minutes of credits, actual shots of unfinished special effects, etc.), and somehow enjoyable in spite of itself. The backstory of the film is half the fun: directed by an up-and-coming Louis C.K., Paramount nearly had an aneurysm when the cut he delivered garnered some of the worst test screening results ever reported. Louis was essentially fired – he was barred from the editing room and the movie was re-cut in an attempt to make something more palatable to mainstream audiences. Perhaps owing some of its je ne sais quoi to its chaotic development, Pootie Tang’s absurdist charm works its magic even as you’re groaning at awful jokes and scratching your head at missed opportunities and bizarre non sequiturs. Somehow, against all odds, some of the jokes work, and the fact that you’ve never seen anything quite like it carries you to the finish line. Pootie himself never becomes grating or tiresome (though the movie itself undoubtedly does), thanks to a surprisingly communicative and skilled performance from Lance Crouther, who would’ve made an excellent silent film star.