According to what I’ve read, “Booty Call” is the first movie of a new and innovative genre: “condom movies.”
Yes, you read it right. There is actually, someday, supposed to a grouping of films called condom movies. (Somehow, though, I don’t see that term catching on. Who would say to their friend, “Wow, that was even better than the last condom movie I saw?”)
Whether the term is accurate or hip enough to make the mainstream, the genre shouldn’t, and hopefully won’t. That is, if “Booty Call” is any indicator of what is to come.
For about the first twenty minutes, “Booty Call” was one of the best comedies I’ve ever seen. And then, it plunged into a wasteland of misguided moral and safety precautions that was the worst hour of cinema all year.
As the story goes, four people are out on a double date. Two of them have been dating for seven weeks and haven’t had sex, although the guy made a bet that they would, that night. The other two (Jamie Foxx and Vivica A. Fox) have absolutely nothing in common, wouldn’t normally stand the sight of each other, but end up sort of getting along.
Then, after the funniest scenes in the movie, they’re back at an apartment, and they split up to separate rooms to have sex. Then, one of the women decides she won’t go through with it without a condom.
She calls her friend, warns her of the obvious danger, and they send the guys out to get condoms. This drags on and on, and especially when the condoms they get the first time aren’t latex (so they go out again). The film slows down even more when it is discovered that latex isn’t the only protection they need, and the guys are sent out a third time.
By the time this absurd game is over, one of the guys is shot, everyone is at a hospital, and alternately in love and at each others’ throats.
So, the moral of this story is: Don’t use a condom, get AIDS, or find a condom, and get shot. Hmmm.
If “Trainspotting” was criticized for being pro-drug, I don’t even want to know what “Booty Call” will be criticized for.
Now, I don’t want to appear to be looking too deeply in the message of a movie like this, but it is something that should be considered. If the movie is going to send a message of any sort, it should be thought out way better than this one was.
I just hope that any future “condom movies” are clearly labeled as such. “Booty Call” will hopefully be the first and last one I’ll ever see.
Grade: C-