Singleton's solid direction didn't save the uneven pacing of this film , and not only the pacing, there's a lot of Gap that occurred here, i don't know what it is exactly but probably the lack of resolution and the absence of consequences that suppose to be given to some of the lead characters, i don't know maybe its just me. The story opens with a fresh sequence on the definition of why a black male is defined as a baby boy, we are then introduced with the title character , Jody , A 20 yr old unachieving young man trying to break free off the directionless life on the street but seems to do little about it,instead he prefers the good old in and out and sampling other local females, despite already giving babies to his steady girlfriend and another mistress type of woman,oh yes, he also lives with his young mom who still samples on different type of thug boyfriends, that is until the biggest thug,Melvin aka Ving Rhames came by , took the heart of mom, and leave Jody with Oedipus angst, now i leave it to here, since it is really hard to break down a summary for this one, every scenes seems to be working like a mini episodes of themselves, which is also the weakness of this film.
It really had potential to be a classic movie, but you're never really sure whether it is meant to be a comedy, drama or a thriller as all of these aspects are thrown in there, but it often leaves you wondering what is going on. Ving's character had potential to be a real strong, powerful character that you could learn lessons from etc and to an extent he is, however, it is undermined by the regular and frequent comedic turns he is asked to perform throughout the movie. Don't get me wrong, they are funny, but like i said, the film's issues in my opinion are too serious to warrant it. The main character Jodie is not likable, and i feel he is supposed to be a bit of an antihero type, but he simply doesn't come across like that, due to partly not great acting, and bad writing. That sadly, is the case for the whole movie, Henson's acting is superb as always, but the script is corny and cliché'd. Sometimes it works, some times it doesn't. I'm a fan of hip hop, and hood movies too, and this is still probably one of the better ones. Even though i've pointed out the bad points, i would still watch this again sometimes for the moments that are memorable.
Overall rating: 6 out of 10.
It really had potential to be a classic movie, but you're never really sure whether it is meant to be a comedy, drama or a thriller as all of these aspects are thrown in there, but it often leaves you wondering what is going on. Ving's character had potential to be a real strong, powerful character that you could learn lessons from etc and to an extent he is, however, it is undermined by the regular and frequent comedic turns he is asked to perform throughout the movie. Don't get me wrong, they are funny, but like i said, the film's issues in my opinion are too serious to warrant it. The main character Jodie is not likable, and i feel he is supposed to be a bit of an antihero type, but he simply doesn't come across like that, due to partly not great acting, and bad writing. That sadly, is the case for the whole movie, Henson's acting is superb as always, but the script is corny and cliché'd. Sometimes it works, some times it doesn't. I'm a fan of hip hop, and hood movies too, and this is still probably one of the better ones. Even though i've pointed out the bad points, i would still watch this again sometimes for the moments that are memorable.
Overall rating: 6 out of 10.