|
Review:
 Donald
Goines was a thug with talent. A novelist of sorts, his work from
the 1960s and ‘70s was the precursor of gangsta rap, tales of
gangsters, whores and ultra-violence. One of his works made it
onto video last year, decades after his death. Now, screenwriter
James Gibson and director Ernest Dickerson have managed to give
the fellow the full Hollywood treatment. Whether or not this is a
good idea is besides the point. The point is that this is an ugly
film about ugly people doing ugly things.
Rapper DMX is King David, a drug dealing thug just back from
California after ten years. He drives a Stutz Bearcat and likes to
talk into a tape recorder where he’s composing his memoirs. He has
a flair for words and a quick intelligence.
The first thing he does is to call Moon(Clifton Powell) a drug
kingpin to whom he owes money. Blue sends two of his minions,
Mike(Michael Ealy) and, Blue (Antwon Tanner),to pick it up. [For
some reason, they have brought Mike’s sister( Drew Sidora) along
for the ride.] But these two have business with King, and as he
lays dying, he bequeaths his car and his memoirs to a white guy
named Paul(David Arquette).
Moon is mad. So he sends other thugs after Mike and Blue. Sis is
the first to get it, then Blue, and soon they’re after Paul, who’s
completely innocent. Paul discovers the tapes and begins to
listen…we go into flashback…
On getting to LA, he meets Janet(Jennifer Sky), an actress on a
TV show. He gets her addicted to heroin for the fun of it, ruins
her life, then kicks her out. Then he meets Juanita( Reagan
Gomez-Preston), falls in love, but she wants better, so he gets
her addicted the same way. He kills the latter in the same way he
did to his ex Edna (Keesha Sharp) years before…but he did that in
front of …that’s right!!
This is an ugly film shot on super-16 film, which means that
it’s grainy, giving an extra-grimy texture to a film that’s full
of dirt.
Fans of Goines will want to see this, because this is the first
of his works to make it to the silver screen. Other than that,
there’s no reason to see this.
Eric Lurio
|
