''ConfessionsOfa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha'' is a 2008 film by

Melvin Van Peebles Melvin Van Peebles (born Melvin Peebles; August 21, 1932 – September 21, 2021) was an American actor, filmmaker, writer, and composer. He worked as an active filmmaker into the 2000s. His feature film debut, ''The Story of a Three-Day Pass'' ( ...

. It is based on Van Peebles' 1982 Broadway musical ''

Waltz of the Stork ''Waltz of the Stork'' is a semi-autobiographical play written and originally performed by Melvin Van Peebles. It also featured his son Mario Van Peebles. The play originally ran for four months in 1982. It ran from January 5, 1982 to May 23, 1982. ...

'' and his

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

of the same name. The film was screened at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

in April 2008 and was the Closing Night feature in the

Maryland Film Festival The Maryland Film Festival is an annual five-day international film festival taking place each May in Baltimore, Maryland. The festival was launched in 1999, and presents international film and video work of all lengths and genres. The festival ...

in May 2008. Van Peebles plays the film's main character from boyhood to age 47.

Plot summary

A boy (Melvin Van Peebles) travels from Chicago to New York to find adventure and riches, later traveling the ocean to Africa in order to reunite with his lover.

Production

Van Peebles was a part of the Merchant Marine as a child and used his memories of people back then to write a

. Though he originally intended to write a

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

, he chose the former genre because it was a new concept at the time. In a later version of his graphic novel, Van Peebles included stills that he had not included in the film. The film is also partly based on Van Peeble's 1982 play ''

''. Its soundtrack contains mostly music that were composed by Van Peebles in a variety of genres. This is his most personal film since ''Sweet Sweetback's Baad Asssss Song'' was released in 1971. It contains song lyrics, poetic verses, and wordplay. Van Peebles, who was 75 years old at the time of the filming, plays the role of himself from age 10 to 47. His mother is 40 years younger than him, and his lover is old enough to be his grandchild. His son

Mario Van Peebles Mario Van Peebles (born January 15, 1957) is an American film director and actor best known for directing and starring in ''New Jack City'' in 1991 and '' USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage'' in 2016. He is the son of actor and filmmaker Melvin Va ...

makes a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...

as a pirate. The title comes from the character becoming an "ex doofus" as he gets older.

Reception

Mike Hale of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote, "''Ex-Doofus'' is a better film in every technical sense – people who had trouble sitting through ''Sweetback'' are likely to find ''Ex-Doofus'' tolerable and even pleasantly diverting – but a lesser one when it matters". J. R. Jones of ''

The Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by ...

'' gave a positive review, stating, "The video has a funky, loose-limbed feel, but Van Peebles has been celebrated so much already you have to wonder how many victory laps a man needs." Kevin Thomas, writing for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' gave a mixed review stating, "Van Peebles' persona and sensibility remain engaging, as do his way with his beguiling score and songs, but his film desperately needs tightening to eliminate tedious moments, especially in the African sequence."

References

External links

* * * {{Melvin Van Peebles 2008 films Camcorder films Films directed by Melvin Van Peebles American independent films 2000s musical films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films