The L.A. Riot Spectacular

by debbie lynn elias

The time - March 1991. The event, the Rodney King beating by LAPD. The fallout - amateur video

The time - March 1991. The event, the Rodney King beating by LAPD. The fallout - amateur video becomes a goldmine for television networks (and the videographers), LAPD Officers Stacey Koon and Lawrence Powell are acquitted in April 1992 of any wrongdoing in the arrest and King beating and within hours of the acquittal’s announcement, LA is engulfed in flames, people are randomly pulled from vehicles and being beaten in the middle of intersections (you remember Reginald Denny and Florence & Normandie), looters are mugging for the tv cameras showing off their stolen goods, curfew is imposed, the National Guard is called in and it’s not long before images of black and white morph into shades of blood red and grey smoke. The cost - 55 dead, 2,000 injured and over $1 billion in property damage. The film - the most riotous, raucous, rowdy, ribald and uproariously funniest satire to hit theaters in years. And I admit right now, I had to see it four times to hear all the jokes because I was laughing so hard.

Told through the eyes and ears of rapper turned actor, Snoop Dogg (himself no stranger to the law or these events), our story begins with a police chase (it’s LA - of course there’s a chase). A white vehicle (not the Bronco, the first white vehicle). As if in a horse race, Officers Koon and Powell together with 4 or 5 other LAPD vehicles are in hot pursuit of the suspect. Making the chase a bit more interesting, they are making side bets on whether the driver, is Black, Mexican or Asian. And of course, it’s Powell’s policy to “always bet on black.” Ultimately, the culprit stops and exits the vehicle and willingly stands before the officers to take his beating. Under cover of “officer under attack”, the beating commences but unbeknownst to the officers, wannabe director George Holliday has a bird’s eye view of the scene and gets his camera rolling capturing each of the 56 blows to King before retreating back into his home to continue his latest work involving whips, chains and leather, and to call the news media.

With the somber dignity of an auction of JFK memorabilia, KTLA ultimately scores the Holliday video and goes in for the kill with a Nielsen rating frenzy. In the meantime, poor Rodney hopes to be poor no more thanks to attorney Steve Lerman. With entertainment magazine tabloidesque precision, King regales his story and his hope for truth, justice and the American way (must be the malt liquor IV talking) and makes his $56 million settlement d emand. ($1 million for each bruise).

And where, you ask, is the LAPD and the City aficionados during all of this? Police Chief Daryl Gates is enshrining Koon and Powell on the Wall of Fame. Mayor Tom Bradley is preaching for calm and justice. The trial of the officers is venued in the righteous and just courthouse in the “white” Simi Valley (where allegedly all 12 jurors an d the judge are police officers). And Snoop Dogg, well, he’s snoopin’ around. Ultimately, the verdict arrives and all hell breaks loose. In Simi Valley, Powell and Koon are free, while at Florence and Normandie, well - as Snoop puts it - this is better than anything at the movies. Thanks to the fires, you can even pop your own popcorn while getting a front row seat underneath a shot up vehicle! Oh yeah, and while you’re at it, get a little comfy with some of those fluffy pillows you looted from K-Mart.

Yes folks, fires, looting, beatings, bragging. All in big bold beautiful color. (Too bad HDTV wasn’t around yet!) Television ratings skyrocket. Everyone gets involved in the fracas. No one is a minority here. Everyone is equally offended and offensive and equally involved. And everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame on tv. Sadly though, video reels must be available for screening if you think you’ve been done wrong! But, as they say, all good things must come to an end, and so must the LA Riots. With a booming voice from the “hills” to rival that of Cecil B. De Mille or Charlton Heston’s Moses, the word is this - The People of the Hills Are Displeased. There are trees to be trimmed, parties to be catered, laundry to be laundered, windows to be washed, etc., etc.

The real key to the comedy here is the casting. T.K. Carter takes the lead as put upon Rodney King. Wimping and simpering and willing to take his licks for his no good alcoholic life which is due to his no good alcoholic father, you can’t help but laugh with every wince, every gesture. Charles S. Dutton (who has an excellent definition of the entire incident - an uprising due to ignorance) is stellar as Mayor Tom Bradley. Ronny Cox, probably best known as Chief/Captain Bogomil in the “Beverly Hills Cop” flicks, puts on a uniform again as, who else, LAPD Chief Daryl Gates. With a calm freneticism, he has you in stitches as he debates media control, exiling officers and tries to learn politically correct ethnic nomenclatures. No stranger to spoof and satire, Emilio Estevez and Christopher McDonald take the reins as Powell and Koon respectively and do so with unabashed aplomb.

But the two that steal the show are Charles Durning as King attorney, Steve Lerman, and George Hamilton as the King of Beverly Hills. Durning plays Lerman with an unapologetic gusto and never moreso than during heartfelt conversations with King over the historical commonality of those of Jewish faith and African Americans. But, George Hamilton! A true gem! Resplendent in golden robes, looming above the smog and smoke filled air, back lit with elegance and care in front of his palatial Beverly Hills mansion, all aglow with that incredible tan, teeth gleaming. . . he is the PERFECT King or God or finger of God. Never shall the twains meets. Never shall the dirge and dinge of LA cross over into the Hills - all of the Hills - Beverly, Hollywood, Bel-Air, Brentwood and even Malibu. His word is the word. And damn! You believe it! Other notable appearances are made by David Rasche and Ann Marie Johnson as impeccable parodies of tv magazine reporters while Jonathan Lipnicki, that adorable kid from “Jerry Maguire” goes against type here as a Simi Valley Neo-Nazi who just happens to love listening to Snoop’s rap! And of course, there’s Snoop Dogg. He is who he is and he is a hoot!

Written and directed by Marc Klasfeld, the film is flawlessly funny. Touching on everything LA from horse racing to game shows to tv ratings to awards ceremonies to shopping to porn movies to tv ratings (yea, I know but it bears repeating) to the innate ignorance, insensitivity and insanity of people in general and societal stereotypes, no one and nothing goes unscathed. One liners are boundless and succinct and will have you in stitches.

Under the veil of hilarity and humor, Klasfeld exposes the flaws and insecurities in each of us and forces us to take a look at a dark time in not just the history of LA, but in our country and us, as people. While the rest of the country may not have been here on the streets burning and looting, or sitting in Culver City watching smoke loom overhead in the East or watching National Guard tanks pull into the parking lot at the Fox Hills Mall, everyone participated in or was affected by the event. As has been pointed out by George Hamilton in many interviews, during the riots, one notable Beverly Hills resident was having a soiree and had the police escort the catering people and servers through the riots and into Beverly Hills so the party could proceed. Sad commentary, but true incident. Just by being glued to the tv watching the events unfold, we all helped ratings rise and changed the face of television. And Klasfeld satirizes that aspect as well. Everything is fair game. This film is an equal opportunity offender. Shot in video, Klasfeld holds true to the original imagery - not just how it all started (from an amateur videotape) but with the news footage. Thanks to the work of editor Richard Alarcon, the film is not only fast paced, but well-paced and cogently ties together all the aspects of the event as a whole.

Opening August 11, L.A. RIOT SPECTACULAR is over-the-top and right on the money. Not a film for the faint at heart or those with no sense of humor, this is a true bespectacled spectacle you won’t want to miss. Bespectacled with laughter, that is!

Narrator: Snoop Dogg Rodney King: T.K. Carter Steve Lerman: Charles Durning Mayor Tom Bradley: Charles S. Dutton Chief Daryl Gates: Ronny Cox Officer Powell: Emilio Estevez Officer Koon: Charles McDonald King of Beverly Hills: George Hamilton

Written and directed by Marc Klasfeld. Rated R. (80 min)