Onlinewsma Absolutely Brilliant!

Matrixiole Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

SnoopyStyle Jo Jo Dancer (Richard Pryor) is a successful comedian. In a drunken haze, he severely burns himself. His spirit watches his wounded body in his hospital bed and recalls his journey to that point. As a child, Jo Jo grew up in the brothel with his mother. As a young man, he decides to go to the big city Cleveland to try his hand in stand up. His father beats him up and his young wife is too afraid to go with him. He gets a gig at a strip club. As his career rises, his marriages suffer a roller-coaster ride of drug use and other difficulties.This is a thinly-veiled personal docudrama. I think it's probably a mistake for Pryor to direct the movie himself. It's technically competent but the material is there for something much more compelling. The story never gets much tension. It's coated in a functional lifetime docudrama. An experienced director would be able to bring something more interesting in the structure and also a deeper performance from Pryor. I love Pryor as a comic and an actor. I don't love this movie quite as much.

curtis martin I'm not sure if a biographical film as raw and truthful as "Jo Jo Dancer" ever had a chance to be a big financial hit. But viewed now, more than 15 years later, it is obvious that the film did not deserve the critical drubbing it got back in the day. Writer-director-producer-star Richard Pryor created a very strong film, simultaneously entertaining, funny, pathetic, provocative, heartbreaking, revealing, and raw. Two things held it back. Firstly, it was too rough for the super-slick mid-80s, being shot and structured more like a seventies film. Secondly, even though the climax of the film--Jo Jo setting himself on fire in a harrowing, drug-fueled despair--is powerful, it lacks a sense of closure. Sadly, the reason for this is that, like the real life Richard Pryor upon whose life the story is based, Jo Jo doesn't die at the end. He is badly burned and we are briefly shown that he lives to continue his career, just as Pryor did. The story is told through flashbacks, after Jo Jo has set himself on fire, focusing on how he got to that point. Since the story abruptly ends soon after his suicide attempt, however, we are not shown much of what happens after that point. In an odd bit of irony, Jo Jo's survival then makes for an unsatisfying conclusion, story-wise. It's as though Pryor is saying, hey I burned myself up and that made me all better. It just isn't satisfying. Other than those minor points, however, "Jo Jo" is a fine film that stands as one of the best of Pryor's spotty film career, and one of the very few dramatic films that allowed his unique brand of rage and vulnerability to show through completely ("Blue Collar" and "The Mack" being two others). Not a classic, but certainly not the bomb it was painted as in '86. And, I might add, head and shoulders above the majority of dramatic films cranked out by hollywood today.

Jimmy Green SPOILERSFans of Richard Pryor have to watch this film - you really have no choice. For my money, Richard Pryor is / was one of the funniest comedians ever. Period. No-one can relate to an audience quite like him - no-one can use their personal experience to quite the same effect. So forgive me if I seem a little biased.Although this film concerns itself with 'JoJo Dancer', it is basically Pryor's life story (check the syllables in the name) with Pryor playing himself. Bearing this in mind, it won't be completely truthful, although on the surface it shows Pryor in a very unflattering light, giving the impression that it is a straight-up factual account of events. Does this mean that the story is unflinching? Yes. Does it mean that the film is honest in its' account of Pryor's life, relationships and behaviour? Not necessarily. It omits certain events that have been detailed elsewhere, for instance his treatment of his white wife. But it is a deeply emotional and almost confessional film, make no mistake. It's obvious that Pryor has cut his directorial teeth on this film, but still it holds up remarkably well. It shifts from drama to slapstick comedy, from stand up routines to fantasy interludes. Although the continuity in certain scenes is dodgy (to say the least) and the screenplay jumps about alarmingly, WHAT WE SEE ON-SCREEN IS HOW PRYOR SAW HIMSELF AT THE TIME. There is an incredible self-deprecation in this film, something that has always been present in his stand-up, but to such a degree here that it becomes painful and heart-wrenching to watch. Scenes such as when his mother tells him that she loves him, or when his father is crying and showing remorse for hitting him, are things that Pryor could never have witnessed, or probably heard about. Instead they are scenes that he wishes HAD happened. The footage of him pouring spirits on himself then setting himself on fire is tragic, but imagine the courage that it must have taken to plan it, write it into the screenplay, finance it, act it, film it, edit it then release it for the world to see.Yes, the film is limited. It skates over events that would benefit from more detail. It uses stereotypical characterisations for certain people to make the story more simplistic, and uses a gimmicky premise that becomes confused about halfway through. But as a confession, and a true-from-the-heart autobiographical account of a life that was almost ruined through self-inflicted excesses, this is a one of a kind film. You must see this.

helpless_dancer Thin, sketchy story; interesting and well enough done but, like all these life history films, too little in too small a space. Dancer aged twenty years in about fifteen minutes of stage routines, then he went through three wives in around sixty minutes. If one wants to know about Pryor, reading his bio would be a wiser choice.