Pootie Tang Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Pootie Tang Blu-ray Movie Review

OR: Sine Your Pitty on the Runny Kine.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III January 26, 2024

It's hot today.

It's hot, too. We've got near-record high temperatures for late January, which means it's as good a day as any to sit inside and watch movies. But truth be told, what made me finally pop in Paramount's 20th Anniversary Blu-ray edition of Pootie Tang was Warner Archive's recent release of that other underappreciated comedy cult classic from MTV Films where Robert Vaughn plays the villain: Joe's Apartment. The vague connections don't stop there: music is a key factor in both, but I can't pick between The Roach Chorus' "Funky Towel" and Pootie Tang's latest single, "Capa-Town."

But anyway, Pootie Tang. It's a movie I enjoyed watching on DVD back in the day with the fellas, having missed it in theaters along with just about everyone else. Earning back less than half of its modest $7M budget, Pootie was all but doomed to cult obscurity and luckily played well enough on the small screen, with a breezy runtime and plenty of off-color gags to impress any teenager or twentysomething. Does it hold up in your mid-forties? Well...

Our story follow the titular Mr. Tang (Lance Crouther, reprising his role from The Chris Rock Show), a man of action whose success with the ladies is only rivaled by his work in the recording studio. He speaks his own language and he's a badass fighter courtesy of the belt bestowed to him by his dearly departed dad (Chris Rock). Pootie's also a beloved role model to kids... which makes him the sworn enemy of big, bad businessman Dick Lecter (Robert Vaughn), who'd like nothing better than to pump the innocent youth of America full of nicotine, alcohol, and saturated fats. As long as Pootie -- buoyed by friends including childhood pal Trucky (J. B. Smoove), fancy-dressed Biggie Shorty (Wanda Sykes), and space cadet Lacey (Mario Joyner) -- can keep fighting the good fight and resist Lecter's lucrative contract, all will be well. Unfortunately, the suits send Ireenie (Jennifer Coolidge) to seduce him, which may or may not end with Pootie signing the contract in a sex-induced stupor that transfers his likeness to the dastardly Lectercorp.

It's a fine enough plot for a short film... and while Pootie Tang is indeed "a short film", it's not a short film. The plot runs out of gas well before the 81-minute mark, which includes roughly 15 minutes of opening and closing credits, a handful of detours, at least seven or eight scenes that run on too long, transitions recycled from an in-character music video, plenty of needless narration, and other distractions. Don't get me wrong: it's still good, dumb fun and serves up a handful of legitimate belly laughs, but Pootie Tang is stretched to its absolute limit and clearly could've used a couple more screenplay revisions. It's common knowledge by now that this was indeed an early writing and directing credit for now mega-popular (and briefly invisible) comedian Louis C.K. and, while he's basically disowned this film during the last two decades, Pootie Tang still has an enjoyably goofy charm despite all those rough patches.

Louis C.K.'s short-lived fall from grace a few years ago all but cemented my belief that Pootie Tang would never reach Blu-ray, yet Paramount saw fit to release it as an MOD title along with Head of State (also featuring Chris Rock) and a few related titles back in 2021. It'll only be worth the wait if you keep your expectations in check, though.

Pootie Tang Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

It's clear that Paramount didn't bother creating a new master for Pootie Tang, as this 1.78:1 transfer has the slightly waxy and processed appearance of video, not film. Yet it's still a decent step above the 2001 DVD with more refined image detail, slightly bolder colors, and and overall more polished appearance that most will find passable enough for a weekend watch. It should be mentioned that Pootie Tang has always looked a bit amateurish in its construction, with occasional low-resolution digital inserts loaded with black crush and artifacts; the stock-loaded introduction is perhaps its most lengthy offender, but the worst is a brief mid-credits scene where Pootie gets a rematch vs. Dirty Dee. These moments have always looked bad and, for obvious reasons, can't really be improved upon... and perhaps worse, the comparatively better-looking regular footage actually clashes harder with those rough-looking moments now.

Perhaps no comfortable middle-ground exists between both extremes, but a fresh scan of the negative still would've been great to see: Pootie Tang is a fairly colorful and vibrant film and, while a few stray moments manage to impress (the "music video" breaks with our hero set against a neon background, as well as a few tight close-ups), the majority of it looks vaguely flat and lackluster by today's standards. Not surprisingly, no real -- or at least consistent -- presence of film grain is ever achieved, but artifacts are at least kept to a minimum on this decently encoded single-layer disc. All told, it's still great to have Pootie Tang on Blu-ray, but there's definite room for improvement here.

Pootie Tang Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

My snarky side wanted to leave this section blank just for laffs, but instead I'll just say this DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix serves up a solid presentation of limited source material. Let's be honest: aside from the occasional R&B / hip-hop song breaks and background music, Pootie Tang is as sonically straightforward as any other comedy, employing a flat two-channel presence that only occasionally opens up in certain environments (Pootie's nightclub, the occasional belt-whipping fight) but otherwise plays it completely straight. It's a capable effort overall, one that probably couldn't be improved in any significant way but still vaguely feels like there's a tighter mix under there somewhere.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only, not the extras below.

Pootie Tang Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release is an MOD title but pressed on a genuine BD-25 disc and not a BD-R. It ships in a keepcase with familiar cover artwork, no inserts, and two bonus features recycled from Paramount's 2001 DVD. Both are in upscaled standard definition and pillarboxed to avoid a few awkward cropping issues seen on that earlier release.

• Music Video by 702: "Pootie Tangin'" (3:36)

• Theatrical Trailer (1:44)

Pootie Tang Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Louis C.K."s Pootie Tang is still good for a few laughs, but it barely registers as a feature-length film with waaay too much filler for something that rolls the end credits after just 71 minutes. Even so, those who saw and enjoyed this in theaters (both of you) or on DVD should be thrilled to finally own it in HD after more than two decades, even though Paramount's Blu-ray could've used a fresher master and a few fun retrospective extras to sweeten the pot.