Juice.

Review #1641: Juice.

Cast: 

Omar Epps (Quincy "Q" Powell), Tupac Shakur (Roland Bishop), Khalil Kain (Raheem Porter), Jermaine Hopkins (Eric "Steel" Thurman), Cindy Herron (Yolanda), Vincent Laresca (Radames), Samuel L. Jackson (Trip), George O. Gore II (Brian), Grace Garland (Q's mother), Queen Latifah (Ruffhouse MC), and Victor Campos (Quilez) Directed by Ernest B. Dickerson.

Review: 

"A lot of the people said that 'Juice' was another 'Boyz N the Hood,' but it wasn't. Just because you have a story dealing with young black males of the same age group doesn't mean you have the same story. The forces that are working in L.A. with the kids are different than the forces at play in Harlem with the kids."

Directors can come from anywhere, so it should not be a surprise to see a cinematographer step right into doing filmmaking on their own. Ernest B. Dickerson had an interest in movies from a young age (such as David Lean's Oliver Twist), but his first line of study was architecture at Howard University. After a row of work in photography, the New Jersey native soon shifted to film study with the Tisch School of the Arts (New York University's film program), and it was through studying with film viewings such as Passing Through that helped shape his desire to take the craft of filmmaking very seriously. One fellow student at the school that he met was Spike Lee. Dickerson would do the cinematography from Lee's student film Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983). Dickerson would move on to shooting a variety of media such as music videos, television, and films (including Lee's first few films as director), but his interest in doing his own films was never away from his mind, and it eventually resulted in his first chance to make his own film, for which this served as his debut. He and Gerard Brown had wrote the script together when at film school in 1984, but it gestated for a couple of years and even went through more than one film studio (The Donners' Company wanted to lighten the tone). Inspired by works such as Claude Brown's Manchild in the Promised Land and films like White Heat (1949), he aspired to make a worthwhile noir with a group of mostly unknown leads.

It certainly fits the mold one might think of with a noir-like film involving trying to earn respect in the streets, even as a growing man. It is the story of people trapped in a situation that warps beyond their control until all that is left is a withered use of what seems like respect. It does so by moving through the routines of a group of four individuals with careful pacing that eventually makes for a powder keg of tension involving the damage caused through one decisive action that creates a web of nightmares that can't be solved by a simple phone call. In short, it makes for a pretty good film that rides the wave of moral greyness with a fair share of terror to go with a useful quartet. Among the quartet, Hopkins had the most acting experience of the group, since he started acting at the age of 13 with Lean on Me (1989), while each of the actors were making their first feature appearance. Epps is the primary key of focus, and it is easy to see why he would garner further roles in future years, because he pulls off a soothing lead performance, one with conflict and persistence that sells the moments required through collected charm - one highlight involves him forging a chance at being a DJ that mixes with the conflict of keeping alliance with his friends, where his moment of pride is followed by the looks on the faces of the quartet into what has to be done. This was the first starring role for Shakur, who proves to be just as magnetic on the other side of the coin. A student of the Baltimore School for the Arts (studying acting, poetry, and ballet), he had started in music with Digital Underground as a roadie and backup dancer and soon after made his impact known on the rap scene in 1991 with the release of his first album. This would be the first of just six films with him in a main role before his death in 1996. One can't take their eyes off him, mostly because he proves quite spontaneous in what you can and cannot see coming from him, menacing but still on one's mind with the soul of a poet in his own way. Kain and Hopkins accompany them with useful charm, never falling into the background because of their dutiful warmth. Others fill the moments in between, such as a caring Herron that pairs with Epps for two scenes, or figures in the grey area like Laresca and Jackson. At any rate, the film does well with its 95 minute run-tie in setting up a mosaic of life within Harlem without being trapped into too many clichés or absorbing itself too much.

Of course not all films can end easily. Upon doing test screenings, the studio insisted upon changing one detail about the ending - the primary moment still happens as it (namely, someone falling off a building), but the nature of the moment was changed by having it resemble an accident (with an added scream) rather than being a calculated move, much to the regret of Dickerson (imagine Paramount Pictures thinking "a measure of hope" was needed to be reflected, as if somehow noirs of the past needed to be a bit more jolly). With a budget of $5 million, the film made four times its budget back, and it is easy to see why. With a fresh cast that makes the most of their gun morality tale, Juice makes for a fine time to sit through in curiosity for what it wants to say about respect and youth that proves worthy nearly three decades later.

A side note. I do apologize for the delay these past five days. Honestly, the cold rush didn't look as bad on Friday compared to the days that would come next...particularly Sunday night, as I was hoping to avoid a power outage at all costs. My thoughts go out to folks affected by the winter storm across my state of Texas alongside all the folks affected across the nation, since no one should be dealing with a lack of power at a time like this. In any case, I am going to make sure these next few reviews are pushed out with care and hopefully without a hitch. 

Next Time - A basket case of stars that really could've inhabited two movies. In any case, it's time to swing around with Boomerang.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.