Willie Dynamite

A high stepping New York pimp (Roscoe Orman) sees his world crumble around him.

Willie Dynamite is half a movie. Instead of showing us the titular character’s rise from rags to pimp stardom, we’re only shown his downfall. Where’s the fun in that? The film never shows us the seduction of the lifestyle. Never lets us experience the vicarious thrill of easy money. Later films, like Scarface and Goodfellas, perfected this formula, but without the setup, Willie Dynamite plays like an after school special on the dangers of pimping. Indeed, watching the film, you’re left scratching hour head as to why anyone would get involved with the lifestyle in the first place, making lead Roscoe Orman’s character impossible to identify with.

Granted, the sheer novelty of seeing Gordon from Sesame Street decked out in a full length cape with matching pope-style hat may be too much to resist, but the novelty wears off way sooner than the film’s 102-minutes.

And it’s a shame because Orman gives a good performance and the pimp fashions and gritty 70’s atmosphere are spot-on. Hell, he’s even got a pimp car. Hell, the character’s name is Willie Dynamite! All the potential’s there but without the first half of the story, it’s wasted. Okay, well, the ending is pretty weak too. Better to have him go down in flames than have a change of heart.

In the end, Willie Dynamite is good for some laughs, but at 102-minutes, there’s also a lot of dead space.