''Dysfunktional Family'' is an American documentary and

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

film written, produced and starring comedian

Eddie Griffin Edward Rubin Griffin (born July 15, 1968) is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for portraying Eddie Sherman in the sitcom '' Malcolm & Eddie'', the title character in the 2002 comedy film '' Undercover Brother'', and Tiberius Jef ...

, and directed by

George Gallo George Gallo Jr. (born January 1, 1956) is an American screenwriter, film director, producer, painter and musician. He is known for writing ''Midnight Run ''Midnight Run'' is a 1988 American road action comedy film directed by Martin Brest ...

. It was released to theaters by

Miramax Films Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey Weinstein, Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California. It was ...

on April 4, 2003 and stayed in theaters until May 18, 2003. The film earned $2,255,000 with its widest release being in 602 theaters. ''Dysfunktional Family'' is mainly a concert performance featuring Eddie Griffin filmed live at the Star Plaza Theatre in

Merrillville Merrillville is a town in Ross Township, Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 35,246 at the 2010 census. Merrillville is in east-central Lake County, in the Chicago metropolitan area. On January 1, 2015, Merrillville became the ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

that also includes behind-the-scenes documentary footage filmed in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

detailing the stand-up comedian's personal life and family as he travels to a

family reunion A family reunion is an occasion when many members of an extended family congregate. Sometimes reunions are held regularly, for example on the same date of every year. A typical family reunion will assemble for a meal, some recreation and discussi ...

to reunite with the cast of characters who are the root of his comedy: his mother, an uncle who was an ex-pimp, and his Uncle Curtis, who pontificates on his career as a porno director.

Soundtrack

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

containing hip hop music was released on March 11, 2003 by the reformed

Death Row Records Death Row Records is an American record label that was founded in 1991 by The D.O.C., Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, and Dick Griffey. The label became a sensation by releasing multi-platinum hip-hop albums by West Coast-based artists such as Dr. Dre ('' ...

. It peaked at 95 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and 14 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

. On a separate note, in 2012, a number of lines and quotes from the film were sampled into the rap song "Fair Fight" performed by the group Strong Arm Steady, alongside a sampled quote from

Chris Rock Christopher Julius Rock (born February 7, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and filmmaker. Known for his work in comic film, television and stage, he has received multiple accolades, including three Grammy Awards for best come ...

's ''

Never Scared ''Never Scared'' is a television special that premiered on HBO on April 17, 2004, starring comedian Chris Rock. It is the fourth special by Chris Rock recorded at the DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., on March 24, 2004. CD version The ...

'' comedy show.

References

External links

* * * 2003 films African-American films American documentary films Stand-up comedy concert films Documentary films about entertainers Films directed by George Gallo Gold Circle Films films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films {{bio-documentary-film-stub