Ghostride The Whip
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Ghostride The Whip is a very odd documentary by the acclaimed producer Peter Spirer. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, Ghostride the whip is when you get out of your car while it’s moving. I’ve always found the phenomenon to be quite fascinating. People get out of their cars and walk beside them, dance around them, hang out the sides, etc. So naturally, I anticipated that this film would be entirely about cars and such.

I was mistaken. This movie should have been titled, The Story of Mac Dre. Mac Dre is the best rapper you’ve never heard of. He started in Oakland and absolutely blew up on the West Coast. He was just starting to come to prominence nationally, when he was tragically shot. This documentary dedicated the largest portion of screen time to him. Which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing; it just wasn’t what was advertised.

The beginning of the film did of course go into ghostriding, and the history of it. Albeit briefly, they did manage to give the basic overview. At first we saw all kinds of cars and street parties. The director even did a great job of showing the downside. They also showed the tragic accidents and deaths. They were really fair to their subject, which is a rarity anymore.

The director also went into a nice little side piece on where the hyphy dance craze came from. They showed the roots and how it has evolved over the years. They added star power with industry giants such as E-40, MC Hammer, and Akon. It was also a really nice touch showing old house party footage that I assume has never been seen before.

Just when I was starting to get excited and the cars made my blood rev up, it all came crashing down. Suddenly where in a really long drawn out tale of Mac Dre. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s a very good story to say the least. But it was just really unnecessary to the spirit of the film.

All in all it was a very well made documentary. It was very concise and informative, and at all times kept your attention. My only beef is that it wasn’t what was advertised. I’m a car junkie. I wanted 75% less Mac Dre, and 200% more cars. But at the end of the day it did teach me about some things, and wasn’t a waste of time.

Added:  Thursday, August 07, 2008
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