A LEGEND IN HIS TIME.

Byline: David Kronke TV Critic

``Bojangles' '' main problem is perhaps the proliferation of show-biz biopics that have preceded it. A sense of deja vu somewhat diminishes the particulars of this film's depiction of the life of William ``Bojangles'' Robinson, one of the most celebrated black entertainers of the first half of the 20th century.

The film opens with archival footage of his funeral in 1949, a spectacle the likes of which New York had not theretofore seen, with a procession that wound from Harlem to Broadway to Brooklyn and an all-star lineup of pallbearers that included Duke Ellington, Jackie Robinson, Bob Hope, Joe DiMaggio, Joe Louis and Irving Berlin. His lifelong manager, Marty Forkins (Peter Riegert) - who dropped the Marx Brothers from his roster to focus on guiding Robinson's career - turns to the camera and starts explaining what the hoopla's all about, which is one of the film's missteps. Just about every major character delivers chunks of exposition to the camera at some point in the film, a device that underscores the film's artificiality in an otherwise uncompromising depiction.

Thank heaven Gregory Hines is on hand to essay Robinson. The actor/dancer's natural charisma is in ample evidence, but Hines also captures the demons that drove the man, most compellingly in a scene in which he, yes, addresses the camera and desperately, pleadingly wonders when the racism limiting his career will ever cease. Hines digs as deeply here as he did in his Tony Award-winning role as Jelly Roll Morton in ``Jelly's Last Jam,'' and, of course, blesses the production with his accomplished tap-dancing.

``Bojangles,'' for the most part, is content to catalog the particulars of Robinson's life. It charts his often-stormy marriage to Fanny Clay (Kimberly Elise), a woman half his age; his becoming the first black performer to appear on stage sans blackface; his successful but ultimately frustrating movie career in which he became the highest-paid black entertainer of his day, earning big bucks for largely stereotypical roles.

The film, directed by Joseph Sargent (``The Taking of Pelham One Two Three'') and written by Richard Wesley and Robert Johnson, strives to meld biopic conventions with a polemic on the shabby treatment artists of color endured from Hollywood. Hence, Robinson's gambling habit is shown but not really explicated, and a scene in which Robinson, ``Gone With the Wind's'' Hattie McDaniel and Lincoln Perry (a k a Stepin Fetchit) discuss their pragmatism over taking demeaning roles seems more manufactured for the purposes of discourse than realistic. On the other hand, a scene in which Robinson is assailed by an activist for playing an Uncle Tom character achieves genuine poignancy, for we've seen the underappreciated struggles the man has endured in his life.

``Bojangles'' is no dog that up and dies, but an over-ambitious if undercooked look at a man who deserves to be rescued from historical obscurity. Fans of tap, however, will forgive its shortcomings, particularly in a scene in which Hines and Savion Glover go at it to see who has the best chops, and at the conclusion, where Hines' impressively faithful rendition of one of Robinson's famous routines is shown side by side with Robinson's own dazzling hoofing.

``BOJANGLES''

What: Biopic about legendary entertainer Bill Robinson.

The stars: Gregory Hines, Peter Riegert, Kimberly Elise, Savion Glover.

Where: Showtime.

When: 8 tonight; also Wednesday and Feb. 19.

Our rating: Two and one half stars