Blazing Saddles

Year: 1974

Grade: B

Country: USA

Director: Brooks

Review

i’m not a huge mel brooks fan, but i certainly can appreciate his early work. this one is more overtly political than any of his other films that i can remember. he pokes fun of the folksy, quaint and racist history of the western genre.

one striking thing about the film is its ability to get you into a comfortable place. perhaps it’s the cred that comes with richard pryor being one of the writers, but i found myself unaffected by his use of “nigger” in the film. the people who use the word in the film are so clearly buffoons that my tendency to wince at the word was greatly diminished. pulp fiction was another film where i found this to be true, but for different reasons.

well-balanced humor. a classic.