Livin' Large! (1991) User Reviews

Uneven Comedy About Integrity and Career Ambition

[hypestyle · 6/10 · 10 August 2014]

"Livin' Large" is a comedy released by Samuel Goldwyn Studios, starring Terrence "T.C." Carson (of popular 90s sitcom "Living Single") as Dexter Jackson, a twenty-something aspiring TV reporter in Atlanta. A fatal accident (here, played for laughs) gives Dexter the opportunity to ad-lib a "man on the street" television news story.

Meanwhile, cynical station manager Kate (Blanche Baker) sees potential in the very green Dexter as a news professional-- provided he follows an increasingly obtuse string of orders in order boost ratings for the station. As directed by Kate, Dexter produces a string of "gotcha" feature reports on area businesses-- exclusively focused on Atlanta's black community-- which manage to bring in solid ratings while also alienating Dexter's social circle. Dexter's otherwise mundane stories become sensationalized with a generous dose of creative license and negative spin.

In the meanwhile, Dexter also has to fend off the romantic attention of co-worker Missy (Julia Campbell, cable's "Dexter"), who has been secretly ordered to seduce Dexter in order to concoct a contrived televised marriage between the two. Dexter is also haunted by a phantom-image of himself that is continuously becoming more Caucasian. (The "white Dexter"-- Carson in heavy makeup-- vaguely resembles Conan O'Brien, in retrospect.) Look for Loretta Devine in a bit role as an older friend of Dexter and Toynell. The movie's fourth-wall-breaking narrator is Nate "Afrika" Hall of the hip-hop act Jungle Brothers.

As a film, this is a breezy distraction. Schultz, a pioneering veteran of black-led feature films and television, keeps an even hand on the production, which aims for satire (from a screenplay by William Mosley-Payne), but has an awkward execution. Some of the slapstick encounters bring a few laughs, though. The film's official underlying message is to be true to yourself and your family and not to sacrifice them for career goals. If one is of a mind to "nitpick" on the narrative, the film's nominal anti-establishment message inadvertently gives a dim view of the challenges of minorities working in a mainstream-culture environment as well as an equally dim view of interracial relationships (though the one depicted here was purely for mercenary gain.) This film was released before Fox News became famous (or infamous) for a distinctly particular spin on the news of the day. In that regard, this film could nominally be seen as a cautionary tale about the pressures of facilitating news media on a highly competitive 24-hour news cycle. But as it relates to the African American experience, the film awkwardly infers that becoming a successful professional means flirting with a "white" lifestyle and worldview by default.

sorta like Network, sorta

[jep831 · 8 January 2006]

I just happened to catch the end of this movie today on UPN. I was absolutely thrilled with this serendipity, because I had been looking for it for years after having seen it previously on television years ago. I didn't remember the name, or any of the performers, or anything else specific about it other than the plot line and the great humor.

I think this stacks up well with many other comedies, both those dealing with the black community and those lambasting the media; in fact, I see it as somewhat of an overlooked gem. It can take its place with the slightly better known EdTV and PrayTV, and of course the now-30-year-old classic Network.

I respectfully disagree with those who think that the movie is saying that being successful is being "white" and therefore something that blacks ought not do. I see it as a critique of the (white) establishment that I believe was the intended message.

Livin'Large.Thinking Small

[pooh-24 · 1/10 · 13 August 2004]

When a young lower class black fellow from the ghetto,who aspires to be a journalist,wants to meet his idol,a black tv newsman while that tv news reporter is at a crime scene,and then when that same older classy black tv reporter,who turns down the young man's offer to see a video of the young man's work,gets killed in an accident while at the crime scene,the young black fellow takes his place reporting from the crime scene and becomes a hit with local viewers and the tv station and its' news producer.Such is the story of Dexter Jackson in the 1991 film Livin'Large,about a young black man who learns that despite the rewards of fame and money to never forget where you come.

That lesson would be decent enough to take in except that in the case of Livin'Large,the lesson becomes heavy handed.Dexter,played by Terrence Carter,changes more and more and becomes more remote from his ghetto neighborhood roots as he becomes successful.When a realtor shows him around a new townhouse he is going to buy,and his girlfriend tells Dexter that she can see the old neighborhood from the townhouse and Dexter replies,to his girlfriend's dismay,"and that is the way I prefer to see them from",the movie shows how much he is changing because of success and not for the better.

As with most films centered around black people,these days,the politics concerning blacks and white come into play.Blanche Baker plays her role as the manipulative sleezy news producer very well.Her character,Kate,mentions to Dexter that they,white woman and black men,together must work to keep the white man from keeping them from reaching the top.It is a horrid message from a trashy character and yet it is a message the film itself doesn't distance itself too far from.

Livin' Large tries to tell blacks,in a nutshell,that having too much success,being too refined in speech,dress,education,and manner,makes you white.It is a message that is somewhat clumsy to present to the audience.There is nothing wrong with success.There is nothing wrong is doing the best you can and having dreams far from one's position in life.Livin'Large would wish to sell the idea that if you are black,and trying to improve your lot in life,in being different than how blacks are usually seen and portrayed by the American entertainment media,is an idea filled with compromise,or "selling out",or "acting white".The film's makers,in this case,could not be more than wrong.One would not hate the film,there are some funny moments in it,but it is not quite the film one should reccomend to the general audience at large.

Blackface Comedy

[view_and_review · 2/10 · 23 August 2018]

This movie was a complete minstrel show.

An urban, hip, down, cool, black man wants to become a news anchor. He's even taken some classes at the local community college. He's afforded the opportunity to be on the news after stepping in for a reporter who was killed while covering a hostage situation. In order for this wannabe newsman, Dexter Jackson (Terrence Carson), to make it he will have to sell his soul. The movie is about the worthlessness of modern news that goes strictly for ratings and about relinquishing one's self for success.

I thought Spike Lee was heavy handed with delivering messages in his movie. Livin Large makes Spike Lee look like a delicate fingered maestro. They wanted to make it abundantly clear that Dexter was 'hood, aka black. That meant poor grammar, loud clothes, an innate ability to dance, and complete ignorance of appropriate behavior (e.g. yelling "this is dope!" during a funeral). He did everything short of painting on white lips and tap dancing. Of course they also had to show his natural inclination towards white women because what black man isn't turned on by white women?

Then, in order for him to be successful he had to do a complete 180. He went beyond simple correct enunciation and proper grammar; he adopted white colloquialisms and a nasally voice, he completely forgot how to dance, and he wanted nothing to do with his old neighborhood.

Because it was a comedy I'm assuming they intended to magnify everything, but doing this in the name of comedy doesn't excuse this movie at all. Comedy or not I was still offended and intellectually insulted. I get that they wanted to show that the news can be of quality and black people shouldn't sell out I just think they did a terrible job. I like the subtler movies that can convey the same message with a more realistic approach. Livin Large was nothing more than black face comedy in a different garb.

Really deftly handled...until the broad ending kinda feels like something from another movie

[mbs · 7/10 · 9 July 2020]

For the first hour or so, this is a really, really well done selling your soul for fame and fortune kinda movie--not literally of course, but the film deftly depicts Dexter Jackson who's dreamed of being a news reporter for so long that he's more than willing to increasingly change his personality, and his mannerisms---ironically the same brash personality that on impulse led him to pick up the camera and microphone from a dead reporter and finish the live telecast that the reporter was shot doing his own self. Is it wildly implausible that that's a thing that could actually happen??? Oh yes, but it is not at all implausible that someone with Dexter's swagger or personality could be an automatic hit connecting with viewers on the airwaves. The conniving and power hungry news producer fully realizes how connected with the audience this random guy is, and immediately sees his potential, the only thing is she's convinced that in order to be successful at a national level, than the guy is going to have be more polished and less "guy off the street" so she gives him elocution lessons (sorta like My Fair Newscaster) and straightens his hair, basically she tries to make him more white....which his subconscious must immediately realize because its not too long before Dexter starts seeing his image on the tv screen becoming a lot paler and a lot lighter each time he turns himself on.

The way this is done is something that's akin to a horror film---it feels like something Jordan Peele would do quite honestly. Trying to interject a sense of everyday horror/social conscience in the midst of this broad seemingly carefree comedy about "movin' on up" in a white man's world.

All of that is handled really well until the movie introduces the plotline that the movie ends up locking into until the end which is the power hungry producer sees ratings potential in having her rising star marrying the weather woman live on the air. She's white, but even if she wasn't, it would've still been a bad idea for the movie to suddenly become about forcing the main character into an unwanted relationship because the movie goes from being about the increasingly disstressed guy's mental state to being more about this broad situation he finds himself in that's like right out of a bad sitcom. I get that the sham marriage/wedding ceremony serves as a catalyst for his conscience to finally reassert itself after being subservient to his news producer's will and changing himself over to the point that he literally doesn't recognize himself on the tv screen anymore....BUT I also didn't care at all whether or not he goes thru with this sham wedding because the whole thing was a bad idea to begin with. And unfortunately the disruption of this sham wedding makes up the climax of the movie, and I don't know, while I liked how the movie dealt with him rebelling against his "white image" and regaining the certitude that made him catch the producer's eye in the first place, the stuff with the bride, and the bride's parents, who's also the minister, and his actual girlfriend beating up the evil news producer, yeah I didn't care for any of that--it felt like a real misstep. Not a fatal misstep, but everything up til then was rather deftly handled, and then all of a sudden it becomes this completely different kinda comedy, more broad and physical. Ah well. I still enjoyed the movie enough tho. Love the soundtrack! (And its use of the song "Hold On I'm Coming" was quite excellent)

Large and in charge

[Newsense · 10/10 · 3 January 2009]

Im not the least bit surprised that this movie has a low rating. Im not the least bit surprised that the negative reviews are not even reviews but written down babble from people who couldn't write a review to save their lives and always use the same kind of criticism to describe EVERY movie they hate. Stupid, predictable sheep. At any rate, Livin Large came and went for the simple fact that it was smarter than its target audience. Beyond the humor is a message to behold.

Terrence T.C. Carson plays Dexter Jackson, a somewhat narcissistic brother that dreams of one day being a top anchorman for Channel 4 news. He gets his chance after the passing of a news reporter. In the process, an unscrupulous news executive named Kate(Blanche Baker) is trying to change him while he desperately tries to hold on to his identity.

Livin Large is funny at times and is pretty smart in its message which is simple: don't sell your soul to be accepted by "them". If you're black then be black. The funniest scene would have to be the wedding scene where Dexter is forced to marry a tramp news reporter in order to be an anchorman. Livin Large will offend those that are against it's message while being praised by those that are smart enough to embrace it. Terrence Carson was pretty funny in this movie and his gorgeous girlfriend Toynell(played by Lisa Arrindell)is fine as hell. All in all, I would recommend Livin Large to those that like a satire from the past that is better than than these overrated satires in the present.

The death of politics in African-American films!!

[ReelofFortune · 10/10 · 29 December 2003]

This movie is a classic!!! It's so honest, funny, and realistic.

Whenever African-Americans attempt to succeed and enhance our economic statuses, we are always accused of "selling-out" or becoming white. However if you are true to yourself and to those who love you, then you can accomplish anything. As Malcolm X said, "A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything." If you don't believe in yourself, how can you expect others to? It's a shame that many current A.A. films neglect political and social issues such as the ones Dexter Jackson faced in this film. Job well done to director Michael Schultz & writer William Mosley-Payne for this movie. I truly love it!!!!

Funny, but not about the RIGHT thing!

[jdb-4 · 31 January 2000]

I felt the film was well directed and well acted but I felt at times they were saying success turns you white. The guy was a news reporter and he should speak well and encourage his girlfriend and homie to do like wise around the white folk. Play the game, get rich and laugh about it later. I'm from South Central and I own my own production company. When I'm with the homies I use slang and feel free to speak the way I want but when I'm doing business I speak professionally. Now the guy should never forget where he came from and he shouldn't sell his soul to be successful but speaking well and becoming successful does not equal turning WHITE!

Manufacturing Consent with a Chuckle

[Zeech · 8/10 · 14 April 2006]

As per usual with PAK Posse reviews this comments is not tell you about the plot etc. Hey that's why you wanna see the film right? But to assist in shape shifting so folks can watch this with another lens. 'Livin Large' came up for us (PAK posse) as a part of a Communications Class Fun Break Theme, of the 'edutainment' genre. As in teaching or attending a class on media/communication or any of those coffee and cigarette type subjects. This movie could be a light relieve class viewing. It would balance out say, watching Chomsky's 'Manufacturing Consent' which is a heavy documentary and some may call clumsy but come on now some of us suburban space cadets need that to wake us up.

Some of us here at PAK Posse worked in media (before we couldn't take the BS any longer) and the issues mentioned in 'Manufacturing Consent' are raised and played out big time in Livin Large. It's done brilliantly and humorously. The vehicle is race, as you can see from the poster, but class is in there as well. The process of selling out is NOT a sudden one that one becomes aware of but like a frog in a pan of water being warmed up slowly, it doesn't realize it's being cooked until it's too late. Selling our soul for the buck, the status, the car, the glamor (u will die when you see our boy falling in "luuuuuurrrrve with himself " on the TV screen). And of course for the male this is often accentuated by his partner, so poor Dexter has his woman Toynelle getting goading him on as begins to enjoy the high life too. This selling out can be so gradual that we sell out our ancestors, our soul without realizing it unless something drastic happens or as this movies shows we literally go nuts! Going nuts can be a warning message from within that our reality is skewed, in this movie the humane ending is the positive outcome of heeding the warning.

The reality check of course is in the real highly competitive media, the outcome is different. One of us said that Livin Large just had to be a comedy coz of the serious issues of media is raises up. For example a BBC black news reporter (Trinidad) would 'coincidentally' be chosen to read the news about South Africa continually, during the apartheid regime. He would look straight at the camera and read the prompt, lies an' all which was pro apartheid-UK government and anti Mandela. For selling out his people his black ass a knighthood or something from the (welfare) queen of England for doing this devilish work and he is a now token of the reactionary media establishment which is exactly what could have happen to Dexter in Livin Large.

So Yea boy, watch this a Double up with 'Manufacturing Consent', it's funny as hell as it's dealing with serious stuff. And us activists are always being rightly accused of taking ourselves too seriously anyway.