Whiteboyz

Believe it or not, two separate white-boyz-in-the-hood boxoffice flops are currently hitting video. First up, Artisan's The Breaks (avail. May 16): I suffered through the trailer, which suggested a comedy on the emotional/intellectual level of a frat boy who was an entire Sears White Sale inventory to the wind, then made good use of my "eject" button. End of story. Next up, Marc Levin's decidedly odd Whiteboyz (already available), which--although it has its own problems--is far from being blatantly idiotic. Co-written by star Danny Hoch, who convincingly plays Flip Dogg, a white rapper ("don't let my skin confuse you," Flip cautions as he explains the rare skin disorder that makes him look white) stuck in the cornfields of Iowa, director Marc Levin's semi one-note film finds Flip and his white hommies (played by Dash Mihok and Mark Webber) doing their own version of small-town coke dealing (baking soda), rapping rhymes to their bitc--um, girlfriends, and generally miming MTV's fantasy depictions of ghetto life to an Ice-T. When Flip convinces his black friend Khalid (a straight outta Cosby honors student type) to hook him up with some phat dope dealers in Chi-town's Cabrini projects, he finds that-contrary to his motto--it ain't all good in the hood. Although the tone change from hip hop comedy to urban in-your-face drama is more whiplash than most viewers will put up with, Whiteboyz has two pluses: 1) the producers do not, if you'll excuse the truly labored pun, whitewash much--the language, self-delusions, teen fantasies and frustrations, etc. are pretty much dead on (no Opies here), and 2) the jokes are occasionally precious (such as when Khalid's upper-class black mother meets working class Flip and responds to his rapid-fire ebonics intro with: "are you Creole?"). Worth a watch, this admittedly flawed sleeper is still a strong optional purchase. (R. Pitman)