I see a number of viewers gave this film such high praise and I ask, for what?
The story of boyhood friends falling into the world of drug dealing could have been told in a number of realistic ways but the screenwriters of this flick didn't use any of them. The story arch about a bunch of 14-year-old novice criminals successfully gunning down their drug dealing rivals just didn't ring true.
But my biggest critique of this film is the dialog. I don't care what ghetto you grow up in, people must speak in a realistic way and the cast didn't. I feel sorry for the cast of pretty good talent having to try to make this script palatable, and failing miserably.
EXAMPLE: ACTOR 1: "What do they call this?" ACTOR 2: "They call it crack."
Awe-inspiring stuff, right? And the dialog in the opening drug deal scene was flat and formulaic, not to mention corny.
I know you must toss in a liberal use of the word "fuck" in any gritty-urban drama *yawn* but it seems a little ridiculous here.
So to recap, keep most of the cast (Maybe recast Allen Payne for someone who actually appears like they could have come from the streets), but re-write the lines for every single scene and you might actually have something.
The story of boyhood friends falling into the world of drug dealing could have been told in a number of realistic ways but the screenwriters of this flick didn't use any of them. The story arch about a bunch of 14-year-old novice criminals successfully gunning down their drug dealing rivals just didn't ring true.
But my biggest critique of this film is the dialog. I don't care what ghetto you grow up in, people must speak in a realistic way and the cast didn't. I feel sorry for the cast of pretty good talent having to try to make this script palatable, and failing miserably.
EXAMPLE: ACTOR 1: "What do they call this?" ACTOR 2: "They call it crack."
Awe-inspiring stuff, right? And the dialog in the opening drug deal scene was flat and formulaic, not to mention corny.
I know you must toss in a liberal use of the word "fuck" in any gritty-urban drama *yawn* but it seems a little ridiculous here.
So to recap, keep most of the cast (Maybe recast Allen Payne for someone who actually appears like they could have come from the streets), but re-write the lines for every single scene and you might actually have something.