"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.
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.