New Jack City.

Review #1978: New Jack City.

Cast: 

Wesley Snipes (Nino Brown), Ice-T (Scotty Appleton), Allen Payne (Gerald "Gee Money" Wells), Chris Rock (Benny "Pookie" Robinson), Judd Nelson (Nick Peretti), Mario Van Peebles (Stone), Michael Michele (Selina Thomas), Bill Nunn (Duh Duh Duh Man), Russell Wong (Park), Bill Cobbs (Old Man), Christopher Williams (Kareem Akbar), and Vanessa Estelle Williams (Keisha) Directed by Mario Van Peebles.

Review: 

“Typically, in a gangster movie, you’re emotionally connected with the gangster. If you watch ‘Godfather,’ you connect with the gangster, but in ‘New Jack City,’ you connect, not just with the gangster, but hopefully with the cops — but even more with the victim.”

Cliche as it may sound, the story of a filmmaker in this case of like father, like son. Mario Van Peebles was born in 1957 in Mexico City, Mexico to a photographer mother and a filmmaker father in Melvin Van Peebles. The Van Peebles family moved around between the United States and Europe, although the younger Van Peebles dabbled first in acting in his teens (which included Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, as you already may know). He studied and graduated in Economics at Columbia College (the oldest undergraduate college of Columbia University, located in New York); he had acted on the advice of his father, who told his son to work hard and advertise while getting a business education. After time spent in the City of New York Department of Enviromental Protection, Van Peebles re-entered acting in the 1980s, which included roles in films such as Exterminator 2 (1984), Rappin' (1985), and Heartbreak Ridge (1986). Van Peebles started as a director in television in 1988 before he got his chance to make a feature with this film. In over three decades as a director, he has done films of varying quality such as Posse (1993) and Baadasssss! (2003) along with countless television projects. The screenplay was done by Thomas Lee Wright and Barry Michael Cooper, while the story was done by Wright. Cooper was a writer for The Village Voice, going from music critic to investigative reporter for the New York City alt-weekly. He wrote an article called "Kids Killing Kids: New Jack City Eats Its Young" in 1987 that talked about drug trade (such as in Detroit). It spurred a meeting with Quincy Jones and eventually a job in re-writing a screenplay that was about a 1970s Harlem heroin kingpin in Nick Barnes (so you can guess how that plays into this film). In 1994, two of Cooper's scripts involving Harlem came out with Sugar Hill and Above the Rim. Wright had been an executive at Paramount Pictures that aspired to be a screenwriter and apparently made a script treatment for what a third film for The Godfather (1972, 1974) could look like. When Paramount was interested enough to have him do an early draft, Wright used experiences in interviews from New York's Little Italy and black kingpins that modeled themselves like the Mafia in Harlem...which was founded by Nicky Barnes.

When you are trying to do a slick piece of entertainment, most might wonder if a resemblance to Scarface (1983) is wise. But New Jack City is still entertaining for what it shows in the contradictions that come in making a film about the rise and fall of one pusher of crack cocaine that has many interesting players that engage with the action in comic-book style energy. It isn't just a movie all about a kingpin or the cops that try to bring him down but instead a film that encompasses both sides of the story that is a deconstruction of the drug trade. In a way, it a refining of what used to be called the "blaxploitation film", one with distinct music and characters that resonate with the flow of the story for what is basically a lyrical action-drama. Of course, it is also a movie that doesn't just roll only in action, because one can always sense the plight of unemployment, social inequality, and systemic racism within the seams. Snipes is the head of where the film works best, one that saw him rocket to further recognition as an actor beyond supporting roles (and for good reason). There is a devilish charisma to everything that he does in this film, one that the writers wanted to show to make one believe him akin to a vampire when it comes to the community. It works exactly to plan because of how much he resonates on screen in presence, sucking our attention as an angel of death, right down to one of the last sequences referring to "my brother's keeper", which is undoubtedly the most effective by the fact that it has lingered as an Internet meme for years (so yes, a somber sequence turning into a moment for humor is far better than you think); the inevitability of where things will lead doesn't degrade the overall experience when it comes to seeing Snipes in a leading role that matters. Ice-T (who got the nickname by his memorization and reciting of excerpts of Iceberg Slim novels) was better known for his music (hip-hop, rap, heavy metal) than an actor, and he apparently got the role because Van Peebles heard him mouth off while in a nightclub bathroom. It is apparent pretty quickly that he makes a quality counterpart to Snipes because of how he manages to hold his own in worthwhile conviction and energy, which makes for quite the pairing when against Snipes in cover or opposite Nelson. Payne and Rock (at that time a member of Saturday Night Live) are the other key aspects of the film that strike interesting chords in the effects of where the trade takes them, whether that involves the decay of brotherly devotion or the attempted decay of one's soul (incidentally, the film has inspired a live stage show that saw Payne return to the role in 2022). As a whole, the 100 minutes feel quite efficient in execution because the movie always seems quite "on", never lingering in unnecessary territory or becoming only just a cliche to pick at. It is a movie with a soul for the moment that still seems quite prescient now, which means that it still has worthy staying power three decades later that is ripe for celebration due to the efforts of Van Peebles and company to make it a worthwhile time to check out.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Next Time: Tyler Perry...in a non-Madea movie with Why Did I Get Married?

Ali.

Review #1531: Ali.

Cast: 
Will Smith (Cassius Clay Jr / Muhammad Ali), Jamie Foxx (Drew Bundini Brown), Jon Voight (Howard Cosell), Mario Van Peebles (Malcolm X), Ron Silver (Angelo Dundee), Jeffrey Wright (Howard Bingham), Mykelti Williamson (Don King), James Toney (Joe Frazier), Jada Pinkett Smith (Sonji Roi), Nona Gaye (Belinda Boyd / Khalilah Ali), Michael Michele (Veronica Porché), Joe Morton (Chauncey Eskridge), Paul Rodriguez (Dr. Ferdie Pacheco), and Bruce McGill (Bradley) Directed by Michael Mann.

Review: 
"The accomplishment of Will Smith in that movie is extraordinary: It’s not just the movement and the boxing — that’s difficult enough; it’s having your head in 1964, which came from sitting where you’re sitting and talking to Geronimo Pratt. That’s the challenge, because that’s what’s really, sincerely exciting — to get things to the point where they become emotionalized and real, so hopefully they have an impact upon audiences.”

It takes a life as big as Muhammad Ali to have two big names behind a biopic about his crucial years, which is why Michael Mann and Will Smith seemed destined to make this film together. The Chicago-born Mann studied English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but it was the viewing of films by F. W. Murnau and G. W. Pabst along with the release of Dr. Strangelove (1963) that influenced him about becoming a director and making a film with an individual statement with successful appeal for serious cinema without needing to be niche. He attended London Film School and subsequently made commercials and shorts before eventually moving back to the United States to do television, which led to his TV breakthrough with The Jericho Mile (1979) before a feature film breakthrough with Thief (1981). Known for his focus on his work with detail and style, this is the seventh of his eleven directorial efforts, and he would also serve as a co-producer and co-writer on the screenplay (with Eric Roth, Stephen J. Rivele, and Christopher Wilkinson, while Gregory Allen Howard got credit for the story). As for Smith, he had risen to fame through various media, which included hip hop in the late 1980s and television with The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990-96) before carving a breakthrough in film with Six Degrees of Separation (1993). Smith had his hesitations of taking on Ali in part because of uncertainty about the script but also in if he was ready to be involved in the feature. He went through months of training in learning about boxing and Islamic studies while gaining weight for the role for a project that ultimately ballooned to over $100 million in budget.

Ali had been prominent on and off the ring, with his pursuits involving writing, music, and acting, which included features such as a.k.a. Cassius Clay (1970, documentary), which had archival footage and interviews with Ali about his exile from the ring, The Greatest (1977), in which Ali starred as himself detailing his life from 1960-1974, and When We Were Kings (1996, documentary), which detailed the "Rumble In The Jungle" fight with archival footage. One could likely do multiple projects on the life of Ali or study him and his prominent life through simply seeing him near a boxing ring. However, this is a film that details the most important years of his life that go from 1964 to 1974, detailing his holding to his principles through a rise, fall, and rise again to the ring and what matters to him most when it comes to holding his principles in religion and against war. In this sense, Ali is a decent film, packed to the prim with observation and some of the confidence and curiosity that made Ali such an icon while perhaps dragging its feet in covering all the fine points of what it wants to show in its vision, a man filled with idiosyncrasies that made him a courageous rebel with struggles and human flaws. In this sense, Smith pulls off a wonderful performance, wrapped in confidence that does well in bravado and stature that works as a tribute to the man portrayed without seeping into hagiographic worship, elevating the material beyond putty if in lesser hands. Foxx proves just as well in delivering someone wrapped in hype and mystery with the right kind of conviction and timing when he is needed for the experience. Voight, wrapped in makeup, pulls off a pretty convincing performance, one with enterprising presence that likely captures the blustery confidence of the real Cosell (in my vague awareness of him the film did actually teach me something I didn't know, namely that he studied law before broadcasting) without just seeming like a pale imitation. Others do fine, but they generally seep in and out of the film as time goes on that make it a bit difficult to really grab a hold on (aside from one might know about them, as is the case with figures played by Van Peebles and Williamson), although at least the film never detracts from its time period with something distracting. The boxing sequences are generally well done, handling the plight of what it means to get beaten pound-for-pound with flourish and careful cutting. Even though the film was not a success with audiences at the time, it shouldn't erase what turns out to be a useful experience to see on screen. One's enjoyment of the film comes from how much of the material will resonate with a viewer when it comes to being a celebration of Ali and what he went through in a decade of fighting others from the ring onto the system that go from place to place with a fair bit of impact for its surroundings that make a decent achievement for both Mann and Smith to be proud of.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.