Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling
Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling | |
---|---|
Directed by | Richard Pryor |
Written by | Rocco Urbisci Paul Mooney Richard Pryor |
Produced by | Richard Pryor |
Starring | Richard Pryor |
Cinematography | John A. Alonzo |
Edited by | Donn Cambern |
Music by | Herbie Hancock |
Production company | Indigo Productions |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 97 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $18,034,150[1] |
Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling is a 1986 American biographical[2] comedy-drama film directed, produced by and starring Richard Pryor, who also wrote the screenplay with Paul Mooney and Rocco Urbisci. This was the first[3] and only feature film Pryor directed[4] (although he is credited as such on the screen version of Richard Pryor: Here and Now).
Background[]
Pryor plays Jo Jo Dancer, a popular stand-up comedian, who has severely burned himself while freebasing cocaine. The film came out six years after Pryor had set himself on fire while freebasing.
Synopsis[]
As Dancer lies hospitalized in a coma, his spiritual alter ego revisits his life, from growing up in a brothel as a child and struggling to beat the long odds to become a top-rated comedian. However, his success leads to extensive drug use and womanizing that takes its toll on his life. It affects every relationship, including his marriages. Jo Jo's spirit watches and attempts to convince his past self to end the cycle of self-destruction.
Cast[]
- Richard Pryor as Jo Jo Dancer
- E'Lon Cox as Jo Jo (child)
- Paula Kelly as Satin Doll
- Art Evans as Arturo
- Barbara Williams as Dawn
- Fay Hauser as Grace
- Billy Eckstine as Johnny Barnett
- Diahnne Abbott as Mother
- Carmen McRae as Grandmother
- Debbie Allen as Michelle
- Tanya Boyd as Alicia
- Wings Hauser as Cliff
- Michael Ironside as Detective Lawrence
- Scoey Mitchell as Father
- Dennis Hayden as Policeman #1
Production[]
The earlier parts of the film were shot in Pryor's hometown of Peoria, Illinois.
Reception[]
Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling received mixed reviews from critics. It currently has a 54% "Rotten" rating on the movie review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes based on 13 reviews.
In popular culture[]
The title of the film is mentioned in the lyrics to the 2013 Afrojack song "The Spark" and the 2016 Danny Brown song “Downward Spiral”.
References[]
- ^ "Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling", Box Office Mojo.
- ^ Siskel, Gene (May 4, 1986). "Richard Pryor Comes Clean In Harrowing Recap Of Life". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
- ^ "Short Circuit A Box-office Live Wire". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved 2010-11-08.
- ^ "Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
External links[]
- 1986 films
- English-language films
- 1986 comedy-drama films
- 1986 directorial debut films
- 1980s biographical drama films
- African-American biographical dramas
- African-American comedy-drama films
- American films
- American biographical drama films
- American comedy-drama films
- Biographical films about entertainers
- Columbia Pictures films
- Films about comedians
- Films about drugs
- Films about prostitution in the United States
- Films directed by Richard Pryor
- Films scored by Herbie Hancock
- Films set in Los Angeles
- Films set in Illinois
- Films set in Ohio
- Biographical film stubs
- 1980s comedy film stubs