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Mario Van Peebles's ambitious attempt to fuse the spaghetti western with 1990s black consciousness — "Cowboyz N the Hood"? — doesn't always work, but it remains a provocative and entertaining addition to the revitalised genre. Van Peebles himself plays the mean and moody leader of a disparate group of black soldiers — plus token white good guy Stephen Baldwin — who find themselves caught between a cruel, racist sheriff (Richard Jordan) and their psychopathic old colonel (Billy Zane). Van Peebles's flashy, hyperactive direction is sometimes at odds with the genre — as is some of the dialogue, for that matter — but the amount of gunplay will leave western fans well satisfied. He also succeeds in assembling an astonishingly eclectic cast, which ranges from veteran black actors such as Woody Strode to 1970s icons such as Pam Grier, Isaac Hayes and his own father, Melvin, and is bang up-to-date with rappers such as Tone Loc and Big Daddy Kane. Look out, too, for a rare cameo from Stephen J Cannell, creator of American TV shows such as The A-Team.
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