Joyce Meadows

Flesh and the Spur -- Flesh and the Spur

Miles Pope is a struggling black actor whose life takes a hilarious turn for the worse when he discovers a ruthless mobster's most guarded secret. To save his neck, Miles enlists the help of an eccentric makeup whiz who concocts a brilliant disguise to conceal his 'true identity'. A side-splitting series of impromptu impersonations follow, as Miles assumes the identities of everyone from a Las Vegas hit man to James Brown's kid brother, in his attempt to save himself and bring the mobster to justice. You'll love TRUE IDENTITY, an outrageous action-comedy featuring a tour-de-force comic performance by comedian Lenny Henry.

Miles Pope is a struggling black actor whose life takes a hilarious turn for the worse when he discovers a ruthless mobster's most guarded secret. To save his neck, Miles enlists the help of an eccentric makeup whiz who concocts a brilliant disguise to conceal his "true identity". A side-splitting series of impromptu impersonations follow, as Miles assumes the identities of everyone from a Las Vegas hit man to James Brown's kid brother, in his attempt to save himself and bring the mobster to justice. You'll love TRUE IDENTITY, an outrageous action-comedy featuring a tour-de-force comic performance by comedian Lenny Henry.

Charles Lane directed Andy Breckman's script, based on an old "Saturday Night Live" sketch of Breckman's that featured Eddie Murphy. Comic Lenny Henry takes Murphy's place in True Identity as a black man forced to don white face in order to save his life. Henry plays Miles Pope, an agreeable British actor whose luck sours when he finds out that businessman Leland Carver Frank Langella is actually a notorious underworld mobster. Carver now wants to rub Miles out and the only way that Miles can escape Carver's retribution is to disguise himself as a man named Frank LaMotta, the Italian-American killer that Carver has hired to kill him. During the story, Miles finds that he has to assume a variety of roles to keep from getting shot --a gay real estate agent, a British lord, James Brown's brother Val, and even Othello. But the biggest shock for Miles comes when he plays the white man and discovers that he is given preferential treatment --not only by whites, but also by blacks and Hispanics. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide