Good God—what can I say about the late great, Rudy Ray Moore? Moore first became famous for his stand-up act, which consists of a lot of dirty rhymes, and then with his character, Dolemite. If anybody has ever seen the old MAD TV sketches were they spoof Dolemite, and other Moore movies, you'll know exactly what to expect. Moore could not act, and neither could any of his friends (which usually made up a good portion of the cast). Plus the directors of his films are some of the worst director of all time. We're talking Andy Milligan, Ed Wood bad, I mean baaaaaad! The intentional humor is so tired, and it reeks of second rate vaudeville. Now, I consider myself to have a great sense of humor. High brow, low brow, it doesn't matter, I love to laugh. Don't get me wrong, I laugh a lot at Rudy Ray Moore's movies--mostly at the ineptness of his productions. Inept or not, there is something damn endearing about the films of Rudy Ray Moore and PETEY WHEATSTRAW is no different.
I could really spend 10 paragraphs ripping this movie a new asshole, hell I could rip it 10 new assholes, but it's pointless. Rudy Ray Moore's movies are bad, I think everybody knows that (if not, ya do now). When I sat down to watch PETEY WHEATSTRAW, I knew what I was getting into. So I got comfortable, had some popcorn, and riffed back at the movie MST3K style. It was fun. Sometimes I when I watch movies they can stir up emotions, some make me think, some move me, some are just fun--because I get some sort of enjoyment out of them. This movie isn't CITIZEN CANE, it's a cheesy blaxploitation movie, starring Rudy Ray Moore--a moderately funny comedian, but a great entertainer. It kept me entertained, I laughed--simple as that. Wether or not I laughed at the jokes or at the movie itself, is a moot point for me.
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What's the movie about? Moore plays a character named Petey Wheatstraw, whom as a kid was bullied, and was taught the martial arts by some old dude. Oh, and when he was born, he came out the womb as a full grown child (with a watermelon…and a diaper….and he could talk…and walk, don't ask). Later he grows up to be some sort of entertainer (a comedian I guess, seeing as though he never really performs a stand up act in the movie, it's kind of vague). There are two fat Amos and Andy type club owners that are opening their club the same time Petey is coming to town, and they fear he will take away from their business. Their club is owned by the squarest looking Mafia guy ever, he tells them if the club fails, its their asses—their very large asses. Sooooo, Leroy and Skillet (yes, that's their names) send some of their goons to rough up Petey's right hand man, and end up killing the guys' little brother on accident. Fearing Petey's retribution, they show up at the kid's funeral, and mow all the mourners down with machine guns, killing Petey as well.
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Petey ends up in hell, and makes a deal with the devil to come back, and get revenge on Leroy and Skillet. Only, to get back he must marry the devil's daughter whom we don't get to see, but we are assured, is very fugly. Petey agrees, and goes back to get his revenge with the help of a magic cane that the devil gave him—with powers as strong as Satan himself (why would Satan give someone a cane with as much power as his own? I dunno, and neither did the writers of the script). If the movie had just stopped there, at the revenge part—it may have been an okay movie—but the second half where he tries to get out of his deal with the devil is so poorly written, filled with plot holes, bad costumes, and effects and is just plain stupid that it just falls apart. I laughed at the first half, but mostly groaned in the second.
It's films like this they always made me question the cult following of Rudy Ray Moore. Compared to other black comics of his era, like Red Foxx, Richard Pryor and even Bill Cosby—he sucks! Nipsy Russell had better rhymes. But I think it can be narrowed it down to pure charisma and swagger, the man had both, and one other thing; the guy says the word 'motherfucker' better than anybody ever in the world. It's kind of like "Mutha-fuck'r". He says it so bad ass that he basically owns the word.
Overall this may seem like a negative review, but the movie does have its moments. Moore's films may not appeal to everyone, but if you've seen his other films, you may appreciate PETEY WHEATSTRAW for what it is. If you've yet to discover the greatness that is Rudy Ray Moore--the original DOLEMITE would be a much better place to start than here.
Some screenshots courtesy of www.blaxploitationpride.org
Opening sequence from "Petey Wheatstraw"