Simply A Masterpiece

Absolutely the worst movie.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

I don't care what anyone says...this was a good movie. You had to see it in it's time back in the '90's when it first came out to really appreciate it. I think it allowed us to see Halle Berry in another role...no one wants to see a great actress playing the same type of roles in every movie.It was funny and it was clean humor. The movie also had underlying themes about character, ambition, and trust. If you think this movie is horrible then you really have no life and you need to loosen up and laugh more....laughter is good for the soul.I'm an African American woman and I was not offended by the characters or the plot. I don't think Robert Townsend received enough praise for going against mainstream black movies back then and creating something clean and entertaining.

A "bap" is, in British usage at least, a type of bread roll; in slang it can also be used to mean "breast". This film is not, however, either soft-core porn or set in the baking industry. Here the word is an acronym for "Black American Princess". The "B*A*P*S" of the title are Nisi (it's short for Denise)and her best friend Mickey, two black girls from Georgia who fly to Los Angeles to take part in a dancing contest. They don't win, but while they are in the city they are approached by a stranger who makes them a curious proposition. He tells them that he represents an elderly, dying, millionaire, Donald Blakemore, who many years ago was in love with Lily, his family's black maid. The deal is that Nisi will pose as Lily's granddaughter, in return for which she and Mickey will receive $10,000 and free board at the old man's mansion. The girls are so terminally naive they don't realise that this is all a scam and that they are being used as pawns in a scheme by Blakemore's nephew Isaac to defraud his uncle of his wealth.The term "Black American Princess", coined on the analogy of "Jewish American Princess", is sometimes used to describe young African-American women from wealthy, cultured backgrounds. Its use in this film, however, is deliberately ironic. Both Nisi and Mickey are from working-class backgrounds (Nisi is a waitress, Mickey a hairdresser) and neither can be described as cultured. Indeed, the film has been criticised by some African-Americans for perpetuating the stereotype of working-class black girls as loud, vulgar and tasteless. The film should have received special Razzie nominations for "worst costume design" and, even more "worst hairstyles". Halle Berry, who stars as Nisi, is one of the world's most beautiful women, but even she finds it difficult to look attractive wearing a fluorescent orange trouser suit and with bleached blonde hair piled high on her head. The twist is that at the end of the film the girls become real "princesses" when Blakemore leaves them a legacy to reward them for the happiness they have brought into his life. With the benefits of their new-found wealth they abandon their gold teeth and false nails and dress more stylishly.The film has been described as a rags-to-riches fairytale along the lines of "Cinderella", although I preferred one reviewer's comparison with "Pygmalion"; Cinderella achieved her good fortune by marrying a prince, whereas at the end of this film Nisi and Mickey return to their original boyfriends in Georgia. For all their vulgarity and lack of class, the girls are depicted as decent and kind-hearted, and therefore deserving of their unexpected good fortune. This characterisation, however, was never really convincing. Any woman who is offered a large sum of money to adopt a false identity really ought to realise that she is being used as part of some dishonest scheme; that Nisi fails to do so suggests she must be either terminally naive or terminally stupid.A number of good films have been made on the "Cinderella" or "Pygmalion" themes, such as "My Fair Lady" or "Pretty Woman", but unfortunately "B*A*P*s" is not one of them. "Catwoman" (for which she won a "Worst Actress" Razzie to go with her "Best Actress" Oscar for "Monster's Ball") is normally cited as Halle Berry's worst movie, but I found "B*A*P"s" far worse. "Catwoman" may be nonsense, but at least it is enjoyable nonsense, whereas "B*A*P*s" is a vulgar, tacky and witless comedy. There is very little humour in the script; you know that the scriptwriters are desperate when they have to resort to that old chestnut about the girl who is so unsophisticated she doesn't even realise what a bidet is for. The film was simply a waste of the talents of all those involved. Natalie Desselle, who plays Mickey, would not, on the evidence of this film, seem to have much talent to waste, but several of the others- not only Berry, but also Martin Landau as Blakemore and the late Ian Richardson as his stuffy butler Manley- deserved better than this. 3/10

Spoilers herein.Projects like this start with the notion of self-parody. You create funny characters that carry a funny world with them. Townsend does a good job at this, with the mannerisms so over the top you are aware of the actresses at every moment. TeeVee skits can work on this alone with no story. But you need a story to sell a movie.Here we have a pretty lame execution on the story.The interesting thing here is seeing Halle Berry before fame and Oscar. She's not really an actress with a lot of tools. Instead, she wears just a few attitudes. The same few here are all that were available in `Monster's Ball,' but they are much more apt here - that's because the idea is to make fun of people who act life roles badly. Naturally, they lose all the trashy affect by the end of the movie all they way to disappearing gold teeth. Just so we know they were only fooling.Despite this, Landau has a pretty masterful death scene. Ian Richardson. Real acting here.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

This awful early starring vehicle for the talented Halle Berry has her and Natalie Desselle portraying minimum wage paid waitresses who dream of achieving more in life and perhaps being successful small business owners. A chance encounter with some high society folks just might help them do just that. It's a disappointing comedy that's not up to Berry's talents.