MovieChat Forums > Truth or Consequences, N.M. (1997) Discussion > I'm Convinced Kiefer would have done a b...

I'm Convinced Kiefer would have done a better job playing ghetto

posted 14 years ago by facultyfreason
2 replies | jump to latest

The one thing that completely kills this for me everytime is just how bad Mykelti Williamson acting is in the whole movie. I get that he was suppose to be an undercover cop, that was the surprise twist, but seriously. His impression of dimwitted thug with his awkwardly pitched and horribly exaggerated version of "ebonics" was both hilarious and sad. Let's see this movie came out in 97, but the look he was going for was like a decade old. I guess what did it for me in the end was his very random limp that he'd cock to the side when he walked, but would later forget to keep up in later scenes.

[–] mistyrain 14 years ago

But wasn't that the point. He obviously wasn't "ghetto" he was a undercover officer that was trying too hard. The fact that he was dressed out of date made it more realistic in that the FBI would create a caricature of a dumb black criminal. The others were just too dumb to see through his cover.

[–] facultyfreason 14 years ago

Precisely, I'm guessing that was suppose be one of the twists. But his terrible acting gave it away. If they wanted us to know he was undercover, they would have shown us to start with. Look at reservoir dogs, we knew in the beginning Tim Roth was the undercover agent, however he still did a decent job playing a criminal. I don't think the idea was to make the audience gag everytime he was on screen.