A Low Down Dirty Shame (1994) Hollywood/Action-Comedy RT: 100 minutes Rated R (violence, strong language, brief sexuality) Director: Keenan Ivory Wayans Screenplay: Keenan Ivory Wayans Music: Marcus Miller Cinematography: Matthew F. Leonetti Release date: November 23, 1994 (US) Cast: Keenan Ivory Wayans, Charles S. Dutton, Jada Pinkett, Salli Richardson, Andrew Divoff, Corwin Hawkins, Gary Cervantes, Gregory Sierra, Kim Wayans, Andrew Shaifer, Christopher Spencer, Devin DeVasquez, John Capodice, Craig Ng, Don Diamont, Randy Hall. Box Office: $29.3M (US)
Rating: ** ½
I know why A Low Down Dirty Shame didn’t set the box office on fire. Do you? Care to venture a guess? It’s simple, really. It was marketed incorrectly. The trailers tried to sell it as a straight-up comedy when in actuality it’s an action-comedy with the emphasis on action. Audiences went in expecting something along the lines of I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (also written and directed by star Keenan Ivory Wayans) and got something more like The Last Boy Scout minus Bruce Willis instead. It’s an easy mistake, but not one that has to ruin the whole viewing experience.
Wayans plays the title character Andre Shame, an ex-LAPD cop turned private eye after he got blamed for the deaths of five detectives during a botched drug bust in Mexico. The case still haunts him five years later. It turns out it isn’t done with Shame yet. His former colleague Sonny (Dutton, Alien 3), now a DEA agent, shows up at his office and informs him that the drug lord, Mendoza (Divoff, Toy Soldiers), he thought he killed is still alive. He needs Shame to track down Angela (Richardson, Posse), Mendoza’s ex-girlfriend and the only witness willing to testify against him. It seems she escaped Witness Protection in New York and came to L.A. It’s extra personal for Shame because he was romantically involved with her while he was investigating Mendoza’s operation.
This latest job comes at an opportune time as Shame’s detective agency is about to go under. He’s over his head in unpaid bills. When he gets a case, it typically turns into a costly fiasco due to destructive antics like jumping through a hotel window and crashing through the roof of a limousine in the opening sequence. Like all good PIs, Shame has a feisty girl Friday, a pint-sized sidekick named Peaches (Pinkett, Jason’s Lyric), who’s in love with him. She’d like nothing more than to be part of the action, but her boss won’t let her play with the big boys. Instead, he keeps telling her to bring the car around. In any event, Shame accepts the job as a means of redemption. If he can catch Mendoza, he’ll be able to clear his name of any wrongdoing in the failed bust.
A Low Down Dirty Shame is a reasonably entertaining action-comedy albeit a completely routine one. All of it’s been done before; the disgraced ex-cop, spunky sidekick, merciless drug lord, femme fatale, dirty double-crosser and stolen drug money not to mention the usual chases, fights, stunts and shoot-outs. Shame is like a mix of John Shaft, Axel Foley and John McClane. He kicks ass and wise cracks with the best 80s/90s action heroes. In one funny scene, he tries to elicit information from one of Mendoza’s associates by tricking him into crashing a meeting of white supremacists. It’s amazing what you can get out of a guy while he’s being chased down the street by 100 angry skinheads.
Pinkett, who’s especially loud and shrill here, has moments of her own. Her best scene is when she assaults the actor who plays a heel on her favorite soap opera for cheating on his woman on the show. She also gets to have a knock-down fight with Angela over Shame’s affections. As the villain Mendoza, Divoff isn’t particularly memorable. Like the rest of the movie, he’s standard issue. Gregory Sierra (Deep Cover) shows up as Shame’s former CO who has to keep reminding him he’s not a cop anymore. Again, standard issue character.
I’d like to give a special shout-out to the late Corwin Hawkins as Peaches’ roommate Wayman. He died of AIDS-related pneumonia in August ’94, just three and a half months before his sole feature film credit hit theaters. It’s too bad, he’s really funny in A Low Down Dirty Shame. In fact, he steals every scene he’s in. It’s sad to think what might have been with Hawkins.
The action is well done. There’s plenty of it too. Unfortunately, it’s part of the problem. It leaves A Low Down Dirty Shame with a sense of unevenness. It’s hard to reconcile the violence with humorous scenes like the one in which Shame manages to stop a pack of vicious guard dogs from tearing him apart by breaking into a James Brown song. I guess what they say about music’s charms is true.
If you want to know what I think of A Low Down Dirty Shame, I’ll tell you. After all, it is my job. I see it as an updated version of a 70s blaxploitation movie with 80s/90s action movie motifs. I have to admit I got a thrill out of seeing Shame finally get it together and jump into stylish action hero mode. It’s NOT an all-out spoof like I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, but it has its fair share of laughs. Sure, it’s totally predictable. We know who Mendoza’s inside guy is from the start. We know that Angela is no good and will do anything to keep the $20 million she stole from her ex. It doesn’t take a private dick to detect these things. Even if it’s not perfect, A Low Down Dirty Shame is still pretty enjoyable. It’s not Wayans at the top of his game, but it’s far from a loss.
