"Not into the formulaic stuff": Trouble Man helmer Michael Jai White talks about his vision with the latest action comedy

Michael Jai White recently spoke about his latest action comedy film, Trouble Man, where he co-stars with Method Man, Gillian White, Mike Epps, and La La Anthony, among others.

White also directs this movie and plays Jaxer, an Atlanta-based private investigator who must find a missing R&B star. It seems like a task he can manage until he can't. During the investigation, he puts together the puzzle pieces as he faces his past.

With this premise, White steps into the Blaxploitation genre, which is also known for stereotyping character traits and details about African American culture. So, White addressed how he wanted to avoid the "formulaic stuff" from similar action flicks. While in a conversation with ABC Audio, he spoke about this topic, as per Cowley Post,

“I have certain issues with [the Blaxploitation era] because there were just a lot of movies that were just action movies and dramas that got swept up into that title. I’m not into the formulaic stuff that you’ve seen all the time. I always wanted it to be an experience,” he said.

White further spoke about the genre, its history, and what he wants to achieve with Trouble Man.

Michael Jai White hopes people have an experience of a lifetime.

During the conversation, Michael Jai White also spoke about other aspects of the genre, which has a history tracing back to the 1970s. They usually were violent action thrillers peppered with some humor. Yet, they happened to perpetuate details that should be better forgotten than revisited.

White had an idea of what he wanted to achieve with Trouble Man. As revealed earlier, he didn't want to turn it into another formulaic comedy. Instead, he reportedly wanted to bring back the charm of older comedic thrillers like Sydney Poitier's A Piece of the Action (1977), Uptown Saturday Night (1974), and others he recalls watching as a kid.

A still from Trouble Man (Image via YouTube/Samuel Goldwyn Films)

According to Cowley Post, White wanted the audience to enjoy his movie as they enjoyed those classics. In line with this, he later said,

“I want to leave a legacy of movies like that. That’s really my benchmark. These movies have made you feel good by the end of it. And there’s just not many of them anymore. So this is where my aim was.”

Based on his comments, Trouble Man might be a treat that genre fans hope to catch on the screen.

More details about Michael Jai White's Trouble Man

Michael Jai White helms this project with a script by Michael Stradford, and he also produces it with Ron Robinson, Craig Baumgarten, and other creative voices.

White headlines this project as Jaxen, a former cop who gets into the private investigation space, but is also joined by a cast stacked with solid stars. La La Anthony plays Jahari, the R&B star who goes missing, while Method Man stars as Money, a man he ends up crossing paths with as he starts looking for her.

Trouble Man was released in the US on August 1, 2025.