It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

A Surprisingly Unforgettable Movie!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Jo Jo Dancer (Richard Pryor) is a successful comedian. In a drunken haze, he severely burns himself. His spirit watches his wounded body in his hospital bed and recalls his journey to that point. As a child, Jo Jo grew up in the brothel with his mother. As a young man, he decides to go to the big city Cleveland to try his hand in stand up. His father beats him up and his young wife is too afraid to go with him. He gets a gig at a strip club. As his career rises, his marriages suffer a roller-coaster ride of drug use and other difficulties.This is a thinly-veiled personal docudrama. I think it's probably a mistake for Pryor to direct the movie himself. It's technically competent but the material is there for something much more compelling. The story never gets much tension. It's coated in a functional lifetime docudrama. An experienced director would be able to bring something more interesting in the structure and also a deeper performance from Pryor. I love Pryor as a comic and an actor. I don't love this movie quite as much.

SPOILERSFans of Richard Pryor have to watch this film - you really have no choice. For my money, Richard Pryor is / was one of the funniest comedians ever. Period. No-one can relate to an audience quite like him - no-one can use their personal experience to quite the same effect. So forgive me if I seem a little biased.Although this film concerns itself with 'JoJo Dancer', it is basically Pryor's life story (check the syllables in the name) with Pryor playing himself. Bearing this in mind, it won't be completely truthful, although on the surface it shows Pryor in a very unflattering light, giving the impression that it is a straight-up factual account of events. Does this mean that the story is unflinching? Yes. Does it mean that the film is honest in its' account of Pryor's life, relationships and behaviour? Not necessarily. It omits certain events that have been detailed elsewhere, for instance his treatment of his white wife. But it is a deeply emotional and almost confessional film, make no mistake. It's obvious that Pryor has cut his directorial teeth on this film, but still it holds up remarkably well. It shifts from drama to slapstick comedy, from stand up routines to fantasy interludes. Although the continuity in certain scenes is dodgy (to say the least) and the screenplay jumps about alarmingly, WHAT WE SEE ON-SCREEN IS HOW PRYOR SAW HIMSELF AT THE TIME. There is an incredible self-deprecation in this film, something that has always been present in his stand-up, but to such a degree here that it becomes painful and heart-wrenching to watch. Scenes such as when his mother tells him that she loves him, or when his father is crying and showing remorse for hitting him, are things that Pryor could never have witnessed, or probably heard about. Instead they are scenes that he wishes HAD happened. The footage of him pouring spirits on himself then setting himself on fire is tragic, but imagine the courage that it must have taken to plan it, write it into the screenplay, finance it, act it, film it, edit it then release it for the world to see.Yes, the film is limited. It skates over events that would benefit from more detail. It uses stereotypical characterisations for certain people to make the story more simplistic, and uses a gimmicky premise that becomes confused about halfway through. But as a confession, and a true-from-the-heart autobiographical account of a life that was almost ruined through self-inflicted excesses, this is a one of a kind film. You must see this.

Thin, sketchy story; interesting and well enough done but, like all these life history films, too little in too small a space. Dancer aged twenty years in about fifteen minutes of stage routines, then he went through three wives in around sixty minutes. If one wants to know about Pryor, reading his bio would be a wiser choice.

Richard Pryor's semi-autobiographical film is uneven to say the least but has some fine moments. The scenes early in film featuring the young Jo Jo growing up in the whorehouse his mother and grandmother work in draw you in to Pryor's unique childhood. But the film moves away from this chapter of his life quickly. Despite the film's faults, you have to admire Pryor's bravery in recreating his incident in which he nearly ended his life by setting himself on fire. I guess I would've like to have seen this as "The Richard Pryor Story" rather than creating a fictional character to mirror Pryor's life. They even shot the childhood scenes in Pryor's hometown of Peoria, Illinois, yet call in Morton, Ohio.