Film: DVD Reviews

'Chappelle's Show' is anything but sketchy

($26.99, Paramount Home Video)
(show)
(DVD format and extras)

Somehow, some way, the comedian Dave Chappelle mutated from a pretty good stand-up comic with a checkered résumé (the amusing "Half-Baked," which he co-wrote; small parts in "Undercover Brother" and "You've Got Mail") to the savior of TV sketch comedy.

It's happened very quickly through his current Comedy Central series, "Chappelle's Show," a ribald and mercilessly bold collection of skits about race, TV, basketball, sex, drugs, rap music and pop culture's take on all of the above.

The series, now in its second season, is one of the most talked-about comedies on TV, emerging from underground favorite to full-blown cultural phenomenon. Want proof? Ask any teenager you know about Chappelle's recent "I'm Rick James!" sketch.

The show's first season, which hit DVD shelves this week, demonstrates just how quickly Chappelle and his longtime writing partner, Neal Brennan, found their footing. The two-disc set includes commentary by the two comics on five of the 12 episodes.

Although they clashed with Comedy Central on issues of language -- the show still gets away with liberal use of "The N-Word" -- and content, a surprising amount of cutting, sharp comedy made it to the air untouched. Unlike another recent sketch show that bit the dust, such as "Cedric the Entertainer Presents," "Chappelle's Show" is fresh, smart and willing to provoke on a level not seen since some of the sketch entertainment on "The Chris Rock Show."

Examples: the story of an elderly blind black man who doesn't know he's black and who becomes a spokesman for the Ku Klux Klan; a searing and hilarious song parody that stands alone in taking to task R. Kelly; comedian Paul Mooney's very funny "Ask a Black Dude" segments; the great pimp parody, "The Playa Haters Ball"; and the goofy, lowbrow comedy of "Blackzilla."

It helps that Chappelle is a gifted performer and that he's front and center in every sketch. He commands the small screen in every performance, from crackhead to president to Samuel L. Jackson. The blooper and deleted-scenes reels also show off Chappelle's gift for improv, much of which makes it to the final cut.

Lucky for us, Chappelle has found his comedic calling in this series.

'Hamlet'

($19.98, Warner Home Video)
(movie)
(DVD format and extras)

"The Passion of the Christ" director Mel Gibson is no stranger to bold moves. Consider his 1990 jump from throwaway fare like "Bird On A Wire" and "Air America" to one of Big Literature's meatiest roles, Hamlet.

It wasn't the last time Gibson would startle naysayers by doing a completely respectable (if not masterful) job of something he seemed ill-equipped to tackle. He likely would have done even better had this "Hamlet" been helmed by a more gifted director than the sometimes clumsy Franco Zeffirelli. In crafting this solid, populist version of the play, the director was clearly more concerned with accessibility than nuance. In a 10-minute "look back" segment on the DVD, Gibson suggests that he failed to nail the role on film, and wishes he'd had the rigorous preparation and once-a-night practice of a stage production instead.

But Zeffirelli's approach isn't without merit. Yes, he trims away almost half of his source material, but he makes perfect sense of what's left, and his cast's performances are broad enough that even Shakespeare-phobic viewers will have no trouble getting the gist of what's being said.

Aside from Gibson's recently-shot interview, the only significant extra is a nearly hour-long 1990 making-of feature that centers on the daunting job the actor had undertaken. Followers of the "Passion" controversy will be intrigued to see the problematic Hutton Gibson pop up backstage, but Mel's dad drops no hint of the nutty opinions that would later be tabloid fodder. The actor had no way of knowing it at the time, but the Prince of Denmark's father issues were just a hint of what was to come.
-- John DeFore

Also out on DVD this week: "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over," "Star Trek Voyager -- The Complete First Season," "The Missing," "Matchstick Men," "Mike Leigh Collection, Vol. 1," "Pieces of April," "Richard III," "The Chase," "Camp," "Split Decision," "Salvatore Giuliano," "Journeys With George," "My Life Without Me," "Oz -- The Complete Third Season," "Scarlet Diva," "Devdas."