Starring: Dave Chappelle and plenty of Hip Hop Acts.

Directed by: Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Be Kind Rewind)

The movie opens with a man having difficulty starting up his car and getting help from Dave and another man. Behind him, a band (The Brooklyn Steppers) is playing “Overnight Celebrity” in such a beautiful manner. It should give any hip hop fan chills. There is so much more where it comes from.

The premise is that Dave wants to throw a block party in Brooklyn, but not just any block party, he wants to get some of hip hop’s biggest acts to join him with no price attached. It really is a dream concert consisting of acts like Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Kanye West, Common, The Roots, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap, Dead Prez, The Fugees (who provide the greatest climax because they reunited just for this) and more that I’m probably missing. The documentary also consists of Dave handing out golden tickets (similar to that of Willy Wonka) to unsuspecting people to come to the free show (yeah, I forgot to mention that the show was free).

This was also out before the highly publicized and ridiculously weird disappearance of Chappelle for a while after he rejected that huge deal to continue with his “Chappelle’s Show.” Regardless, the dude is still hilarious, but this documentary has comedy on the back burner and the presence of hip hop and universal dopeness that is hip hop, on the center stage.

In and out of these clips of Dave recruiting people to come to the show and other silliness that Dave does so well, there are clips from the actual show that still give me chills after so many viewings. The live band (headed by ?uestlove) also adds so much to the atmosphere that you can’t help but rhyme along with “Get em High” or “Defintion.”

The laughs are throughout the movie as Dave attempts to get some attire for the show (and instead gets pimp attire), talks to old Caucasian couples who own the building that Dave wishes to throw the party in front of, and even conducts sketches and stand up comedy acts in between musical acts. Of course, the documentary’s essence would not be captured if not for one of the best directors in the biz, Michel Gondry. His philosophical and spiritual vision that he has shown in previous efforts is not lacking here as he captures all the key moments and presents them with such emotion and perfection. Seemingly small irrelevant scenes such as the description of the building they want to use for the concerts home base (fittingly called “The Broken Angel”) can be seen as a definite symbolic display of the growth and development and rise and fall of hip hop. Gondry gives you so much to piece together, but still gives you the experience of the block party as if you were there.

If there was a downfall, it would be that there wasn’t enough interaction with the artist themselves. Anytime ?uestlove or Mos Def or Talib Kweli speak, it is something worth hearing, but we rarely get to hear them speak. Also, Chappelle speaks about Thelonius Monk and the timing he had in his instrumentals. Chappelle relates comedians to musicians in regards to timing, it is actually quite brilliant. I’d love to hear and see more displays of those types of tidbits. It was a tease at times, but that is a small complaint.

The film is dedicated to James Yancey, better known as Jay Dee/J Dilla and he would’ve loved this display. It is hard to pick one favourite performance with what was shown, but hearing the marching band play “Jesus Walks” and Kanye walking right in front of them was pretty damn cool. The talent alone at this show is crazy and I recently just came back from Rock the Bells, but this show would’ve been just as good and possibly better. Any hip hop fan should watch this and you will leave happy and will want to buy it. No matter how many times I’ve seen it, I always get goose bumps and the experience that could’ve been if I was in Brooklyn at that time.

Overall Score: 88/100