Connect with us

Film

Fantasia 2018: ‘Bodied’ Muddles Its Raps

Battle rap, the musical subspecialty that’s better known today for its parodies, makes a triumphant return in Joseph Kahn’s Bodied. Kahn’s film is often thrilling, and features some great raps and comic writing, but its generic visuals and muddled message threaten any goodwill it receives.

Bodied stars Calum Worthy (who nearly ran away with American Vandal) as Adam, an academic in the making who has decided to do his graduate thesis on the use of the N-word in battle rap. The fact that he’s a white man explaining the inner workings of a predominantly black art form doesn’t particularly faze him, to the chagrin of his pretentious fellow students. In particular, Adam’s girlfriend and classmate (Rory Uphold) is puzzled by his devotion to rap, which she finds to be misogynistic and homophobic.

bodied

Still, Adam convinces her to accompany him to Los Angeles for a battle rap tournament. There he convinces one of his heroes, the unfortunately named Behn Grym (Jackie Long), to tell him all he knows about battle rap for his thesis research. But when Adam is confronted after the show, he’s forced to do his own battle rapping, and suddenly an interest develops in the pasty white graduate student. Adam soon pushes his thesis aside in favor of trying for battle rap success, but his single-mindedness threatens to turn him in to the villain of his own story.

Where Bodied succeeds, it’s almost entirely due to its strong cast. Worthy isn’t quite as uproarious as he was in American Vandal, but his awkward shtick still plays well, and his desperation as everything falls apart for him rings as genuinely distressing. Long provides added dimension to his character, who has a poignant family life beyond his battle rapping.

Bodied Movie

Many of the Bodied’s problems originate with Uphold as Adam’s girlfriend. She’s quite believable as the sheltered academic and gets some great comedic lines, but her character illustrates the film’s confused nature. It puts forward a not particularly controversial thesis that the speaker of a word determines its meaning (and its offensiveness), but when Adam is confronted for his offensive raps by his girlfriend and colleagues, they’re framed as insincere fakers. (Perhaps it’s not surprising that a film produced by Eminem would be hesitant to criticize a white rapper.)

Kahn’s style also creates a visual analogue to that muddling. His origins as a music video director show, and every scene is stuffed full of dramatic shots that become monotonous when viewed for longer than four or five minutes. Bodied is full of promise, but Kahn can’t settle on a successful tone or thesis.

fantasia logo

The Fantasia Film Festival runs July 12 – August 2. Visit the official website for more information.

Written By

Brian Marks is Sordid Cinema's Lead Film Critic. His writing has appeared in The Village Voice, LA Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, and Ampersand. He's a graduate of USC's master's program in Specialized Arts Journalism. You can find more of his writing at InPraiseofCinema.com. Best film experience: driving halfway across the the country for a screening of Jean-Luc Godard's "King Lear." Totally worth it.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Facebook

Trending

Logan Paul’s Boxing Journey: A Look at His Fights and Results

Culture

Demi Lovato marries singer-songwriter Jordan ‘Jutes’ Lutes in California wedding

Celebrity

New Kwaito Star Captain Faces Heat Over Mampintsha Comparisons

Culture

Doechii Rocks the Edge — 100 Stories Above New York — With Short But Spicy Set

Celebrity

Ghostface Killah Sets Long-Awaited Classic “Supreme Clientele” Sequel Release Date & It’s Closer Than You Think

Celebrity

Zion Williamson Responds To Lawsuit For Alleged Sexual Assault & Kidnapping

Celebrity

Kendrick Lamar Beats Drake For Album Of The Year At The BET Awards

Celebrity

Joshua Jackson Asks for Emergency Custody Dispute Because of Daughter’s New School

Culture

The 10 Scariest Horror Movies Of 2024, Ranked

Film

Celebrities Mentioned During Sean “Diddy” Combs Trial

Culture

Olympic Gold Medalist Tom Daley on His New Documentary, Being a ‘Sounding Board’ for Closeted Queer Athletes and Why Tom Holland Should Play Him in a Movie

Celebrity

‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Renewed for Fifth and Final Season

Film

Andor Creator Tony Gilroy Doesn’t Consider A Key Rogue One Relationship Canon

Film

Fountain Of Youth Review: An Indiana Jones Knock-Off Lacking Excitement

Film

Simon Guobadia Reportedly Deported To Nigeria After Porsha Williams Drama

Celebrity

The Met’s ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ Reframes Ancient Tragedy Through the Lens of Propaganda

Film

Connect