NEW REVIEW! Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2005, dir. Michel Gondry)

"Success takes you where character cannot sustain you." This is a quote (I'm paraphrasing) that Chappelle cited on his recent Oprah appearance. Despite his media image of "troubled comedian" since his departure from his wildly successful Comedy Central series, Chappelle in recent public appearances and in Dave Chappelle's Block Party seems to be everything but troubled.

Chappelle's comedy isn't really comedy at all. It's pretty much performance art marketed as comedy. His sketches aren't based simply in jokes but more cohesively in our societal issues with race and therefore we laugh at how we either relate to them or are embarrassed by them. It's extremely smart stuff. While people may be praising Sarah Silverman's dirty jokes as Lenny Bruce's second coming, Chappelle is really the closest thing we have to an irreverent mouthpiece.

The difference between the choatic anger of Lenny Bruce and the what you might call "justified resentment" of Dave Chappelle however is made abundantly clear in Dave Chappelle's Block Party. Chappelle's general persona comes off as down-to-earth and very grateful. The proceedings (a party/concert thrown in Brooklyn in 2004) are completely devoid of any kind of negativity or frustration that Chappelle or any of the artists involved may have been dealing with at the time of shooting. And there are several opportunities for conflict including Jill Scott and Erykah Badu duking it out on the controversial Roots' "You Got Me" hook and the emotional but pretty tense Fugees reunion. But everything falls into place without much ego-clashing or soapbox-preaching. Despite the drama that was about to unfold for him professionally Chappelle is very comfortable here in the deliriously cheerful Willy Wonka role and director Michel Gondry wisely stays out of his way.

As a cinema verite film, this is a good one. It's up there with D.A. Pennebaker's Don't Look Back or Company Original Cast Recording. But Gondry one-ups Pennebaker, probably due to his music video background, by editing and structuring the piece as he would any narrative film. In turn making it an immensely entertaining concert film which is saying a lot. It never lets celebrity, success or artistry overshadow what the performers documented in this film have: character.

Bottom Line: It's an important film though many will not realize it. If you have no idea who Dave Chappelle is... this is a good introduction.