''Drop Squad'' (sometimes spelled as ''DROP Squad'' or ''D.R.O.P. Squad'') is a 1994 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by David C. Johnson and executive produced by

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

via his production company

40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks is the production company of Spike Lee, founded in 1979. The company name is a reference to the phrase most often used to refer to the early Reconstruction period policy and episode of events, in which certain rece ...

. The plot depicts a team of

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

s who kidnap fellow black people who they feel have betrayed their community and seek to " deprogram" them so that they will change their ways. The acronym DROP stands for "Deprogramming and Restoration of Pride". The film has been described as " rt thriller, part social satire". The film was based in part on ''The Session'', a 45-minute film Johnson produced in 1988 on a $20,000 budget, and ultimately derived from a short story by David C. Taylor titled "The Deprogrammer". Johnson described the differences between the two films as follows: "The short film was basically satire, an absurdist piece .... ''D.R.O.P. Squad'', on the other hand, is realism. The characters have more at stake."

Plot

The film portrays an advertising executive, Bruford Jamison Jr. (

Eriq La Salle Erik Ki La Salle (born July 23, 1962), professionally known as Eriq La Salle, is an American actor, director, writer and producer. La Salle is best known for his performance in the film ''Coming to America'' (1988) and especially as Dr. Peter ...

) who is in charge of the "minority development division" for an advertising agency. Among the ad campaigns he is involved with is one for a

malt liquor Malt liquor is a type of mass market beer with high alcohol content, most closely associated with North America. Legally, it often includes any alcoholic beverage with 5% or more alcohol by volume made with malted barley. In common usage, it ...

called "Mumblin' Jack", whose billboard depicts a woman in a skimpy bikini straddling a bottle, with the slogan "It Gits Ya Crazy!" Another ad campaign depicted in the film is a commercial filled with racial stereotypes (in which Spike Lee has a cameo) for a fried chicken restaurant's Gospel-Pak, which offers a Bible verse printed on every napkin. Bruford's sister Lenora (Nicole Powell) calls in the Drop Squad to deprogram him. Bruford winds up being subjected to three weeks of psychological and physical brutality. Among the other persons who are shown being subjected to the deprogramming are a corrupt politician and a drug dealer. The film also depicts a conflict among the members of the Drop Squad as to the tactics they should use. Rocky (

Vondie Curtis-Hall Vondie Curtis-Hall is an American actor, screenwriter, film director, and television director. As an actor, he is known for his role as Dr. Dennis Hancock on the CBS medical drama '' Chicago Hope'' created by David E. Kelley and as Ben Urich in ...

), the squad's leader, believes in using only nonviolent tactics, such as "subjecting them to a barrage of slides, posters, slogans and family photographs in hopes of restoring their sense of community", while Garvey (

Ving Rhames Irving Rameses Rhames (born May 12, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his supporting roles as IMF Agent Luther Stickell in the ''Mission: Impossible'' film series and gang kingpin Marsellus Wallace in ''Pulp Fiction''. He also ap ...

) believes that harsher methods have become necessary.

Cast

as Bruford Jamison, Jr. *

as Rocky Seavers *

as Garvey *

Kasi Lemmons Kasi Lemmons (; born Karen Lemmons, February 24, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter, and actress. She made her directorial debut with ''Eve's Bayou'' (1997), followed by '' Talk to Me'' (2007), ''Black Nativity'' (2013), '' Harriet ...

as June Vanderpool * Leonard Thomas as XB * Nicole Powell as Lenora Jamison * Eric A. Payne as Stokely *

Crystal Fox Crystal R. Fox (born January 1, 1964) is an American actress and singer. Fox performed in many stage productions during her career, and is best known for her television roles as Luann Corbin in the NBC/CBS police drama series '' In the Heat of ...

as Zora *

Vanessa Estelle Williams Vanessa Estelle Williams (sometimes professionally credited as Vanessa A. Williams) is an American actress and producer. She is best known for her roles as Maxine Joseph–Chadway in the Showtime drama series, ''Soul Food'' (2000–04), for whi ...

as Mali

Response

The total North American box office gross for the film was $734,693. The movie was dropped from the theaters it played when the movie ''

Drop Zone A drop zone (DZ) is a place where parachutists or parachuted supplies land. It can be an area targeted for landing by paratroopers, or a base from which recreational parachutists and skydivers take off in aircraft and land under parachutes. In ...

'' was released weeks later. ''Drop Squad'' has been suggested as a possible influence on Spike Lee's 2000 film ''

Bamboozled ''Bamboozled'' is a 2000 American satirical dark comedy-drama film written and directed by Spike Lee about a modern televised minstrel show featuring black actors donning blackface makeup and the resulting violent fallout from the show's success. ...

''.

References

External links

* *{{Rotten Tomatoes, drop_squad 1994 films Gramercy Pictures films 1990s English-language films