This summer, Netflix delivered yet another classic for their wide range of viewers. With comparisons to ‘Get Out’ and ‘Sorry to Bother You,’ Juel Taylor’s “They Cloned Tyrone” is a mature take on the society we live in today, paired with elite humor that hints at real-world stereotypes and conspiracy theories.
Writer and Director Jeul Taylor is known for being involved with hit films like ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’(2021), ‘Creed II’(2018), and most recently, ‘They Cloned Tyrone’(2023). The official teaser for They Cloned Tyrone, which dropped in September of 2022, caught the attention of the media almost instantly. In the teaser, we see a paramount number of small scenes from the film, a few of which were still being talked about weeks after the teaser was released. From “It’s in the Chicken!” to “Grape Drink”, the media quickly started to prattle on about what exactly the film would be about. A shot at the government? A comical play on modern-day stereotypes? Or a message to the people to open their eyes. Or in other words, get ‘woke’. When the movie dropped less than a year later, people were talking, and now it’s finally my turn to talk. Lets review Jeul Taylor’s: They Cloned Tyrone.
The movie opens up with a group of lowd and rather rowdy friends outside a liquor store, discussing the fact that they’ve seen Michael Jackson alive and breathing. Exlcaiming that they saw him working at the “PigglyWiggly.” here you’ve also got your typical hustler, on the side of the shot trying to sell his latest CD telling women “just fuh wit me babyyy.”( for anyone who doesn’t know what this means, its basically slang for listen to my music.) This is when we are introduced to a little boy whos name isn’t specified until later. He bikes up to the group of guys requesting the whereabouts of Fontaine. Fontaine is one of 3 main characters in this film, dont worry we’ll get to that. Fontaine is played by British actor and film producer John Boyega, most known for his role as Finn in Star Wars. The group tells Junebug to go home and that they haven’t seen him. Junebug goes to find Fontaine to tell him he saw a young dealer selling drugs in his territory. They both head over in Fontaines car to see whats up, they pull up and the young dealer tells them to “get the f out of here.” Fontaine then takes off, turns around and runs the young dealer over presumably breaking his leg. The opp starts screaming in agony and mentions the name Isaac, saying “Isaac gone f you up when he see you.”
One of the things I love about this movie is the slow but sudden build up. Jeul Taylors great ability of keeping the audience engaged and active all while building the story to its climax is similar to that of the amazing Christopher Nolan in my opinion. At this point he is slowly introducing some of the key characters that have a vital role in the storyline.
After Fontaine uses his car to immobilize the dealer, he heads to a liquor store where we are introduced to a drunk homeless man, otherwise known as an “old-head”, who throughout what seems like the entire movie, says remarks to Fontaine. The first remark being “Its in the water youngblood.” Theres this stereotype that all oldheads know everything about everything, everywhere. Hearing his remark initially sparked 0 thoughts, but as the movie continues you start to pick up on his knowledge, and that he is not just some crazy homeless man. To sum up the rest of the movie without making this recap too long, characters Slick Charles: a pimp(Jamie Foxx) Fontaine: drug dealer and Yoyo:hustler(Teyonah Parris) Discover a lab in a freaky house with a worker down there listening to Michael Jackson. Here is where the group discovers Fontaines body with bullet holes. I know you’re probably wondering “wheres the rest of the plot?”, my job is to pique your interests so you can watch the movie yourself without being spoiled too much. But anyways, the movie goes on to turn into some sort of Star Wars base storming type thing, they start solving clues like Nancy Drew to figure out all of the meanings and purposes for the people who are behind the “cloning”.
My favorite things about this film are the way its color graded, really gives you an 80’s feel, especially with Slick Charles being a literal pimp that sells drugs and cocaine. The music plays a vital role in all of the scenes as well, making for an INSANE euphoric feeling when watching the movie, you really feel like you are the main character. I highly recommend you to listen to the official movie soundtrack, there are some really really great picks in that album.
My final compliment towards this movie is the small but notable cast. You have Jamie Foxx, a man of MANY talents, artist, actor, director, writer THE MAN DOES IT ALL. John boyega who is amazing in every piece of cinema he takes place in, truly always a masterpiece. And Teyonah Parris, who I dont really know much of, but I can say she did an exceptional job in this film.
If you’re wondering what you should add to your list of movies to watch, I highly recommend Juel Taylor’s They Cloned Tyrone.
