Booty Call

Some time back, I recorded Booty Call during one of the free preview weekends. It's going to be on again several times over the next week, starting with tomorrow at 12:35 PM on Showtime Next, so I sat down and watched it.

As you can guess from the title, Booty Call isn't one of those elegant screwball comedies, but a raunchy sex comedy, not that there's anything wrong with that. Tommy Davidson plays Rushon, a nice professional who has another date with his girlfriend Nikki (Tamala Jones). Rushon has been going with Nikki for all of seven weeks, and he thinks that's more than enough time for him finally to get some sex out of the relationship. But there's a bit of pressure on going out on such a date all alone, so he's decided to make it a double date.

Rushon has a friend Bunz -- yes, with a Z -- played by Jamie Foxx, who seems like the sort of smooth operator where you wonder how exactly he makes his living. Nikki has a friend living in the apartnemt across the hall, Lysterine -- yes, with a Y -- played by Vivica A. Fox, who is also unattached, so Rushon and Nikki set up Lysterine and Bunz.

Now, the box guide on my DirecTV gives the synopsis as, "Absurdity rules on a double date but does nothing to quell the couples' quest for passion". And the date gets absurd fairly quickly, even before the date begins, considering that Lysterine is snobby enough to complain that she's been set up with a guy named Bunz with a Z. Come on Lysterine, surely you've gotten enough ribbing for your name, and that's what you're going to complain about? Anyhow, the two couples go to a restaurant in Chinatown, where we learn that Lysterine and Bunz might not be so compatible, as Lysterine seems to be the sort of professional-class woman who you'd think would be better paired with Rushon, not that Nikki is necessarily wrongly paired with him. But Bunz and Lysterine both speak Chinese so one point for something in common.

They're still not necessarily comitted to sex yet. That is, until they go back to Nikki's apartment for a nightcap and some cards. There's a little bit of footsie, but more importantly is Nikki's little yippie dog, Killer, who spices things up between Bunz and Lysterine although they don't realize Killer is playing the part of catalyst. But the job having been done, the two couples retire to the women's respective apartments with the expectation that they'll finally get it on.

Not so fast, since we're nowhere through the film's running time. Benz apparently forgot to bring any condoms with him, and Rushon only seems to have the one, which Killer intercepts. Nikki especially is insistent that she have safe sex. So Rushon and Bunz have to go out and procure condoms. And if you think the movie was absurd before this point, it's about to get a whole lot more absurd, as everything the two men try seems to backfire on them. with Rushon ultimately having to be taken to the emergency room.

OK, there's not really that much of a plot to Booty Call, as it's more a series of sketches. But I don't think one should really expect a whole lot of plot development in a movie like this. It's incredibly raunchy, and if you're either prudish or not in the right mood, you're probably going to hate the movie. (You probably wouldn't have considered watching it in the first place if you're that prudish.)

I was in the right mood, and for the most part found it quite funny. There were certainly some flaws, such as the waiter in the Chinese restaurant. The hospital scene also made me think of Richard Pryor's Critical Condition, but I don't know that the writers were truly unoriginal here. Some of the characters, such as the two Punjabi convenience store workers, may push some viewers' stereotype buttons, but I didn't mind those scenes.

Obviously, Booty Call isn't going to work for everybody. But it worked for me.