Amos & Andrew (1993)

21% of critics liked it
(24 reviews)
35% of users liked it
(7,355 ratings)

When African-American professional Andrew Sterling (Samual L. Jackson) moves into a summer home on an up-tight all-white New England resort island, the snoopy white neighbors are sure he must be breaking and entering. They call the cops who get too rambunctious and break into Sterling's limo,… More When African-American professional Andrew Sterling (Samual L. Jackson) moves into a summer home on an up-tight all-white New England resort island, the snoopy white neighbors are sure he must be breaking and entering. They call the cops who get too rambunctious and break into Sterling's limo, tripping its security alarm. When Sterling shows up to stop the alarm and pulls out his keys to open the car, a skittish cop thinks he's pulling a gun and opens fire. Now things are really a mess, because not only have these cops screwed up big-time, they've screwed up big-time in an election year when their Police Chief (Dabney Coleman) just happens to be running for re-election. This mess-up smacks too much as a race-inspired melee, so Chief Tolliver arranges a cover-up to keep his reputation intact. He hires a drifter to pose as a thief so the cops will have a legitimate reason for "protecting" the vacationing Sterling. Things continue to complicate in this airbrush farce, that attempts to lighten with laughter, the delicate and combustible subject of American race relations. ~ Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 36 min.
Directed By: E. Max Frye
Written By: E. Max Frye
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Comedy

In Theaters: Mar 5, 1993 Wide
On DVD: May 22, 2001
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Lawrence Cohn, Variety
A one-joke sketch that doesn't work as a feature.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Cage is the only actor allowed to do riffs on his assigned part, something he takes full advantage of; the others are stuck with their two-dimensional satirical profiles, which grow increasingly tiresome and unyielding.
Vincent Canby, New York Times
A hhandicapped satirical farce whose roots are not in life but in other, better movies and sitcoms.
Hal Hinson, Washington Post
A very funny little film with big pleasures, and a most promising debut.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Although the movie strives mightily to teach its lesson, which is that you cannot judge a man by the color of his skin, the humor is undermined by the sadness of the basic situation.
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
Cage is a font of funny character weirdness. This movie marks the least of his offerings. Jackson, as the relative straight man, has little to work with.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Comedies about racism risk trivializing the issue on the one hand or becoming preachy and dull on the other. Amos & Andrew manages to do both.
Clint Morris, Moviehole
An ad for the unemployed actor
Kevin N. Laforest, Montreal Film Journal
Our chance to see two great performers working together.
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com
One of the stupidest and most morally retarded comedies of the decade.