Films

SLOW JAM KING
(United States/Canada, 2004) Dir./Scr.: Steve Mallorca

Slow Jam King skews genre lines and racial iconography, combining the quirky characterizations of Rushmore with the hip-hop sensibilities of Boyz N Da Hood, and the countrified outrageousness of Oh Brother Where Art Thou?

JoJo Enriquez, a Filipino-American, poseur gangsta-pimp, thinks he hears his call to the streets and carjacks Vance, a mysterious traveling perfume salesman. In tow is Devaun, JoJo's best friend, who tries desperately to protect Vance from JoJo, and JoJo from the law. But no one is safe from JoJo's impulses, as the motley trio hits the road to Nashville, and slowly succumb to an escapist adventure that takes them further away from JoJo's reality, but closer to Vance's reality. When JoJo discovers the truth about his reluctant road companion, the trip takes a turn that leads the three of them to truth, love, and the dirty underbelly of the Nashville country music scene, where they encounter the militant Black country music star, Buck Garvey.

35mm, 88 minutes