Boss Nigger is an entertaining film. It may not be perfect, namely because this film doesn't seem particularly interested in elevating its archetype characters with its above average premise, but it does enough with its premise, and the lead performance of Fred Williamson is really good.

The first part acts as kind of a wish-fulfillment comedy; a decently funny what-if scenario, answering the question of what might happen if a black man were suddenly made the sheriff of a racist late 1800s Southern town. However, the film's final act actually removes most of its Blaxploitation edge and actually morphs into your standard typical Western. Some people may be disappointed by that, but in all honesty, it really shouldn't come as any surprise. Screenwriter and star Fred Williamson no doubt understood this would be his only chance to act out the part of a Western protagonist, so he took advantage of it by ending the film just like every other western out there.

Unfortunately, there are moments where the film shows its age. This is a film you can tell was made in the 1970s by watching any five-second clip of it. The sound mixing is pretty bad, sometimes to the point where the music completely drowns out what the characters are saying. And I watched a version that wasn't remastered, so there were times where the picture was pretty blurry. There are also some moments of either technical incompetence or inexperience, with jumpy, jarring edits, or strange directing decisions that keep pulling you out of the film.

This film doesn't redefine anything and doesn't do anything great, but in spite of all its flaws, this is a consistently entertaining little film. It's a solid blending of Western and Blaxploitation, which makes this worth watching for fans of either genre.