''Bodied'' is a 2017 American
battle rap
Battle rap (also known as rap battling)Edwards, Paul, 2009, p. 25. is a type of rapping performed between two or more performers that incorporates boasts, insults and wordplay. Battle rap is often performed or freestyled spontaneously in live ...
comedy-drama
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
film directed by
Joseph Kahn Joseph Kahn may refer to:
*Joseph Kahn (director) (born 1972), a film and music video director
*Joseph Kahn (journalist) (born 1964), American journalist
* Joseph Kahn (shipping executive) (1916–1979), American businessman
See also
*Joseph Hahn ...
. It was written by
Alex Larsen and produced by
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...
, his manager
Paul Rosenberg, and
Adi Shankar
Aditya Shankar (born January 8, 1985) is an Indian-American film producer, screenwriter, film director, television program creator, television showrunner, and occasional actor. He is best known for ''Dredd'', ''Castlevania'', and his " Bootleg U ...
.
[ The film first premiered at the ]2017 Toronto International Film Festival
The 42nd annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 7 to 17 September 2017. There were fourteen programmes, with the Vanguard and City to City programmes both being retired from previous years, with the total number of films down b ...
.["‘Bodied’ Review: Eminem-Produced Satire Is the Most Subversive Hip-Hop Movie Ever — TIFF"]
''Indiewire
IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...
'', September 8, 2017. The film stars Calum Worthy
Calum Worthy (born January 28, 1991) is a Canadian actor, writer, and producer, known for his roles as Dez on the Disney Channel series '' Austin & Ally'', Alex Trimboli in the Netflix series ''American Vandal'', Nicholas Godejohn in the Hulu ser ...
as Adam, a graduate student who becomes a competitive battle rap
Battle rap (also known as rap battling)Edwards, Paul, 2009, p. 25. is a type of rapping performed between two or more performers that incorporates boasts, insults and wordplay. Battle rap is often performed or freestyled spontaneously in live ...
per after becoming immersed in the scene while working on his graduate thesis on the subject.[
At the Toronto International Film Festival, the film won the Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award: Midnight Madness. It also won ]Fantastic Fest
Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Alamo Drafthouse, Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News, Paul Alvarado-Dykstra, and Tim McCanlies, writer of ''The Iron Gi ...
's 2017 Audience Award. In January 2018, YouTube Red
YouTube Premium (formerly Music Key and YouTube Red) is a subscription service offered by the video platform YouTube. The service provides ad-free access to content across the service, as well as access to premium YouTube Originals programming p ...
announced it had acquired exclusive streaming rights, with a limited theatrical release beginning on November 2, 2018.
Plot
Adam Merkin, a white graduate student at Berkeley
Berkeley most often refers to:
*Berkeley, California, a city in the United States
**University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California
* George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher
Berkeley may also refer ...
, is writing a thesis on the use of the word "nigga
''Nigga'' () is a colloquial and vulgar term used in African-American Vernacular English that began as a dialect form of the word ''nigger'', an ethnic slur against black people. The word is commonly associated with hip hop music and Afric ...
" in battle rap. To research, he attends a freestyle rap battle between rappers X-Tract and Behn Grym and brings his girlfriend Maya along; Maya is offended by the sexism she perceives in the bars used in the battle. Adam attempts to interview Grym and is made fun of for his rhetoric. In the parking lot outside the event, Grym is called out by young white rapper Billy Pistolz, but Adam steps in and delivers a freestyle verse accusing Pistolz of cultural appropriation
Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from ...
. An impressed Grym agrees to speak with Adam further.
Adam's father, Professor Merkin, is a best-selling author and professor at Berkeley. When Adam runs the idea of his thesis by his father, he is met with more ridicule. Adam accepts an offer by battle promoter Donnie Narco for a battle for newcomers against Korean rapper Prospek. At the battle, Adam attempts to perform joke lines but doesn't get the reaction he hoped for; he falls back on Asian jokes, winning over the crowd and taking the battle. Adam also meets rappers Che Corleone, Devine Wright, and Megaton, who is known for his aggressive persona.
At a vegan restaurant, Adam attempts to convince the disapproving Maya that it's okay for him to keep battling but insults both her and a waitress in rhyme, angering her and getting himself ejected from the restaurant. Maya later leaves Adam after his rapper friends offend her. After an event where Adam, Che, Devine, and Grym all win their battles, they attend a house party hosted by Megaton where Che has sex with Megaton's girlfriend, porn star Bella Backwoods. An enraged Megaton challenges Che to a battle in the coming days.
Adam tries to stay with Grym, who reveals his life outside battle rapping: he is a video game designer
Video game design is the process of designing the content and rules of video games in the pre-production stage and designing the gameplay, environment, storyline and characters in the production stage. Some common video game design subdiscipline ...
with a wife and a child with cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare genetic disorder that affects mostly the lungs, but also the pancreas, liver, kidneys, and intestine. Long-term issues include difficulty breathing and coughing up mucus as a result of frequent lung infections. O ...
. He states that he maintains his privacy because he doesn't want people to use personal insults against him and, as such, never uses personal insults himself. Grym offers Adam to stay at his house, but his wife accuses Adam for appropriating black culture and refuses to let him stay.
Adam is contacted by another promoter, offering him the chance to battle Grym for $5,000 at the same event as Megaton and Che's battle, but he turns it down, stating that battle rap has ruined his life. Maya then uses an online video of Adam's battle with Prospek as supporting material for her own thesis, turning the student body of Berkeley against him. His father also disowns him, and the dean of the school suspends his scholarship. Left with no other choice, Adam calls the promoter and accepts the battle.
At the event, Adam and Grym go head to head. Grym delivers scathing but fictional bars against Adam, but Adam betrays his friend to win by using Grym's actual personal details against him, with emphasis on his daughter's illness. While enraged during the fight, Adam gets angry at two other rappers who are talking during the fight, and he and Grym perform an impromptu tag-team battle against them.
Afterwards, Grym informs Adam that they are no longer friends, because while other battle rappers' cruelty is merely an act, Adam's battle rapping has become an outlet for his actual cruelty. Grym departs, saying he needs to be where he belongs; with his family. Desperate, Adam attempts to call Maya and ask her to marry him, but she lashes out at the ridiculousness of the idea and tells him to stay away from her.
Megaton "bodies" Che during their battle, even bringing his girlfriend out to freestyle about how bad he is at sex. Afterwards, Megaton starts insulting the crowd, daring anyone to challenge him. Adam, left with nothing else, steps into the ring and takes on Megaton, who hits him in the face and knocks out a tooth during his verse. Unfazed, the bloodied Adam gets back on his feet and calls Megaton out for putting on an aggressive act. Megaton concedes the battle to a triumphant Adam. Afterwards, Adam, now sleeping on a park bench on the Berkeley campus, watches a video of his new widespread fame on his phone and says he's decided what his rap name is, but the film cuts to credits before he can say. The song "My Name Is" plays during the credits, heavily implying that Adam metaphorically represents Eminem's alter ego Slim Shady.
Cast
* Calum Worthy
Calum Worthy (born January 28, 1991) is a Canadian actor, writer, and producer, known for his roles as Dez on the Disney Channel series '' Austin & Ally'', Alex Trimboli in the Netflix series ''American Vandal'', Nicholas Godejohn in the Hulu ser ...
as Adam Merkin, a progressive graduate student
Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree.
The organization and stru ...
who develops a passion for battle rapping while researching the scene for his thesis paper
* Jackie Long
Jackie Long (born October 23, 1981) is an American television and film actor, writer, musician, director and producer. He is also a voice actor for '' Grand Theft Auto V''.
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
External links
*
*
{{ ...
as Behn Grym, a veteran battle rapper, and Adam's mentor in navigating the world of battle rapping
* Rory Uphold
Rory Uphold is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter and actress. Her music was played in two movies and in the comedy series "Merri Me."
Career
Uphold began performing at the age of three. She has had her tracks in two movies '' The Anniversar ...
as Maya, Adam's girlfriend
* Dumbfoundead
Jonathan Edgar Park (born February 18, 1986), known by his stage name Dumbfoundead (), is an Argentinian-born American rapper and actor. He began his career in the 2000s as a battle rapper in Los Angeles and has since become one of the most pro ...
as Prospek, a Korean-American battle rapper, and one of Adam's first opponents
* Walter Perez as Che Corleone
* Shoniqua Shandai as Devine Wright
* Charlamagne tha God
Lenard Larry McKelvey (born June 29, 1978), known professionally as Charlamagne tha God or simply Charlamagne, is an American radio host and television personality. He is a co-host of the nationally syndicated radio show ''The Breakfast Club' ...
as Hunnid Gramz, a battle rap promoter
* Dizaster as Megaton, a battle rapper with a loud, aggressive, and in-your-face battling style, and the movie's antagonist
* Loaded Lux as Bluntz
* Hollow da Don
Nigel Bennett (born January 28, 1984) is an American battle rapper, better known by his stage name Hollow da Don.
Life and career
Hollow da Don was on 106 & Park's Freestyle Friday for seven weeks undefeated, earning a place in the program's Hal ...
as 40 MAG
* Debra Wilson
Debra Wilson, also known as Debra Wilson Skelton or Debra Skelton, is an American actress and comedian. She is known for being the longest-serving original cast member on the sketch comedy series ''Mad TV'', having appeared on the show's firs ...
as Dean Hampton
* Anthony Michael Hall
Michael Anthony Hall (born April 14, 1968), known professionally as Anthony Michael Hall, is an American actor best known for his leading role as Johnny Smith in '' The Dead Zone'' from 2002 to 2007. He also rose to fame starring in films with ...
as Professor Merkin, Adam's father, a professor at the college Adam attends
* Daniel Rashid as MC Goggles
* Simon Rex
Simon Rex Cutright (born July 20, 1974), is an American actor, rapper, comedian, and former model. Rising to fame as an MTV VJ, Rex later became an actor known for '' What I Like About You'', starring in three films of the ''Scary Movie'' fr ...
as Donnie Narco, a battle rap promoter & host with an outlandish personality. According to Ultimate Rap League
The Ultimate Rap League (commonly referred to as SMACK/URL) is a battle rap league based out of New York City owned by acclaimed hip hop promoter Troy "Smack White" Mitchell, Eric Beasley, and Jean "Cheeko" French from Queens, New York City, United ...
promoter Street Star Norbes, Rex's character is modeled after real-life battle rap promoter/host Nick "Lush One" Hyams.
* Corey Charron as Billy Pistolz
* Terrance "Big T" Greenlee as X-Tract
* Davone "Daylyt" Campbell as Big Zee
* Candice Renee as Jas
* Tony "Madness" Gomez as Choke Artist
* Rone as Groom
* Pat Stay as Racist Battler
* Conceited as Comedian
* Vivian Lamolli as Bella Backwoods
* Lisa Maley as Becky
* Eddie Perino as Jon
* Eric Allen Smith as Robert
* Adi Shankar
Aditya Shankar (born January 8, 1985) is an Indian-American film producer, screenwriter, film director, television program creator, television showrunner, and occasional actor. He is best known for ''Dredd'', ''Castlevania'', and his " Bootleg U ...
as Campus Security Guard With Turban
* Andy Milonakis
Andrew Michael Milonakis (; born January 30, 1976) is an American actor, comedian, rapper, and streamer. He is best known for his work on ''The Andy Milonakis Show'', a sketch comedy series that aired on MTV and MTV2 from 2005 to 2007. Other no ...
as Freddie Hustle
* Faithe Herman
Faithe Herman (born December 27, 2007) is an American actress, best known for her work in ''This Is Us'' (2016) and '' Shazam!'' (2019).
Career
After appearing as Annie Pearson in the 2016 television show ''This Is Us'', Herman landed her firs ...
as Grace
The film also includes cameo appearances by real-life battle rap personalities The Saurus, Illmaculate
Gregory Poe (born February 4, 1986), better known by his stage name Illmaculate (a.k.a. Illmac), is an American battle rapper and hip hop artist from St. Johns, Portland, Oregon. He attended Roosevelt High School in Portland.
Career
At age 1 ...
, Nocando
James McCall (born June 3, 1983), better known by his stage names Nocando and All City Jimmy, is an American rapper from Los Angeles, California. He is the 2007 Scribble Jam champion and founder of Hellfyre Club. He is a member of hip hop group ...
, Arsonal, Philly Swain
Darin Swain, better known by his stage name "Philly Swain", is an American hip hop songwriter, artist, and producer from southwest Philadelphia. , Head ICE, JayGoesOff ((Joseph Geist)), Iron Solomon, Lush One, Poison Pen, Ultimate Rap League
The Ultimate Rap League (commonly referred to as SMACK/URL) is a battle rap league based out of New York City owned by acclaimed hip hop promoter Troy "Smack White" Mitchell, Eric Beasley, and Jean "Cheeko" French from Queens, New York City, United ...
founder Troy "Smack White" Mitchell, Norbes, King of the Dot
King of The Dot Entertainment, also known as KOTD, is a North American rap battle league founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 2008. The company's HQ is based in Toronto, from which it gets its name. Successful battlers such as Pat Stay, Dizas ...
founder Organik, Aktive, Dre Vishiss, poker player Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu (; born July 26, 1974) is a Canadian professional poker player who has won six World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and two World Poker Tour (WPT) championship titles. In 2014, independent poker ranking service Global Poker Ind ...
, and actors Yoshio Iizuka, Sloane Avery and Becky Wu
Becky Wu is an American actress of film, television and the stage. She plays the recurring character Amy Yamada on multiple episodes of ''Desperate Housewives'', and Jan Carnes on ''Greek (TV series), Greek''. She has also appeared on TV shows suc ...
.
Reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 89% based on 82 reviews. The website's critical consensus states, "With its thorny themes and aggressive humor, ''Bodied'' dares to offend - and justifies its approach with a subversive comedy that edifies as it entertains." On Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 75 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Brian Tallerico, writing for RogerEbert.com, said that the film "offers an entertaining window into a culture that most people probably know very little about, but it's also a clever take on a generation more aware of what's offensive and what's not than any before". Barry Hertz of ''The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'' called the film "an outrageous and outrageously entertaining treatise on cultural sensitivity".
Home media
''Bodied'' was released for DVD and Blu-ray on September 17, 2019 through Gravitas Ventures
Gravitas Ventures is an independent film distribution company owned by Anthem Sports and Entertainment. The company was founded by Nolan Gallagher in Los Angeles, California in 2006 and moved its headquarters to Cleveland, Ohio in 2019, where it f ...
.
See also
* List of hood films
This is a list of hood films – films focusing on the culture and life of African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, and/or in some cases, Asian Americans living in segregated, low-income urban communities, as well as comparably deprived and crime-ri ...
References
External links
*
{{TIFF People's Choice Midnight Madness
2017 films
2010s musical comedy-drama films
American musical comedy-drama films
2010s hip hop films
Films directed by Joseph Kahn
Eminem
Neon (company) films
Films set in the San Francisco Bay Area
2010s English-language films
2010s American films