Release Date: March 23, 1994
Production Companies: New Line Cinema (later acquired by Warner Media) and Medina/Pollack Entertainment
Here I am with another review/retrospective for my Tupac Shakur marathon. It’s weird to think that while Tupac was alive, he only did six films (not counting “Nothing But Trouble”) and I wonder if he would have done more if his untimely death didn’t happen. So many things to think about.
I had seen this movie a handful of times before. The first time being back in 2001 when I caught it on TBS. Granted, it was the TV cut, but aside from dubbing over profanity, there really wasn’t a lot censored as there was no sexual content at all and the violence wasn’t all that severe that it had to be edited. Although I will note that with the soundtrack, some songs were the clean versions, some of which were re-recorded songs with different lyrics. That’s about as far as I could go with my personal history with the film, except for maybe the soundtrack album but that’s a different topic altogether. Yes, I did see this movie a few times before and did enjoy it, but it isn’t something that I would call one of my favorites.
That isn’t to say that I don’t have some things to say about it, however. I did say I liked the film.
It was not until now that I found out that this movie was not only directed by the late Jeff Pollack, who had directed other films (I know I’ve seen one other one, “Booty Call”), but he also co-produced and co-wrote this film. If he had a lot to do with this film, something tells me that this was a project that he wanted to get off the ground. I had read that during the production, Allen Payne (“New Jack City”) was considered to play the lead role but Pollack turned it down in favor of Duane Martin, who played the main character, Kyle-Lee Watson.
So the plot goes like this. The film starts off with two teenage basketball players playing on the rooftop of a building and one guy wants to show that he could jump high enough to touch the backboard of a basketball hoop, he does so but breaks through and falls to his death. Given how dimly let the setting was, it has hard to tell where the two friends were, unless you play close attention to a skylight nearby in a wide-angle camera shot. Then it turns out was a dream (or flashback) when Thomas Sheppard, or as he went by, Shep (Played by Leon; he has a full name but was just credited by his first name), woke up. It turned out he was the one who survived and then it cuts to another scene at a high school basketball game. The gist of the story involves Kyle-Lee Watson, who is a star player on the team and hoping to get a shot at playing at a university, causing a loss for the team because he often hogs the ball, leaving other players and his coach to confront him about it. We then find out that Shep started working as a security guard at the school.
Over the course of the film, Kyle comes across other people and is torn between who he should align with for influence for his future, which includes local gang leader, Birdie (Tupac Shakur), who has quite an influence and clout on the streets that he can make things happen. Oh, and Kyle’s old friend Bugaloo (Marlon Wayans) is the one who introduces Kyle to Birdie. While the narrative primarily focuses on Kyle, there is also focus on Shep, who still deals with pain over the loss of his friend, and also his familial relationship with Birdie, who happens to be his brother.
So basically, while basketball is the aesthetic for the plot, the real story is about connections and choice. Throughout the film, you can see that some of the negative influences can lead to negative consequences, as well as a positive influence being close by but not realizing it until a certain point.
What’s interesting is that while some elements aren’t fully explored, it’s possible that Pollack went for some elements to be interpreted. For example, one scene had Shep encounter a homeless man named Flip (the late Bernie Mac) and the two knew each other. It’s implied that the two had history from their school days and that Flip had played basketball. It didn’t get fully explored but it’s implied and left for interpretation. So while things aren’t fully explained, when you go back and watch it again, things start to make more sense.
Unlike “Juice,” Shakur’s performance as Birdie is a lot more subdued than as Bishop. What sets them apart is that Bishop wanted power and respect but was also a scared young man deep down, while Birdie is already a respected (and likely feared) gang leader who has the kind of influence that if someone does what he says, they’ll do it and will order a hit on someone if the person crosses him. Yes, Bishop was terrifying in some scenes, but Birdie has that air about him that while he may seem respectful at first, he is more dangerous than he initially lets on and it showed as the film progressed.
To establish Shep and Birdie’s relationship, this scene showed a lot of Tupac’s acting ability. It was one of the best scenes in the film. It also established the two characters’ personal faults.
The film also provided some comic relief in some scenes with Wayans and Mac, especially with the two being comedians. It didn’t hurt to have some funny bits in a serious movie.
I also have to talk about the basketball scenes. It was clear that Pollack knew what he was doing when directing and editing the scenes but you had some quick cuts and close-ups during bits when one shot would change and then a shot of a basket being made. Whether there was a wide-angle shot, a close-up, or a quick montage, the editing made those shots feel intense.
Here is a good example of that. It was the film’s climax, by the way.
Because this came out at a time when “hood movies” were more prevalent, a lot of the time there was a soundtrack to come out with the film. You could say that some films were used to promote music soundtrack albums back in the day. Hell, it was often shown in the production credits on the poster and some of the time, trailers and TV spots would have a list of artists on the soundtrack. This film was a good example of that as it not only had some songs to go with the setting but also had one of the hottest labels at the time, Death Row Records, to promote their music. Not to go into the soundtrack fully because I would rather go into it in another post, but for a movie set in New York City, there was a lot of West Coast rap in it. I know that Death Row did the soundtrack, but with that being mostly a West Coast label, it seemed a little out of place. Yes, there was some East Coast rap in the film but not on the soundtrack album. That’s just my opinion, though.
I think I appreciate this film more now than when I watched it before. I didn’t say I didn’t like the film. I liked the film okay but it seems that whenever I watch it more times, I can appreciate different aspects about it. This film is no exception. I know that it’s been nearly three decades since it came out but with this film having a low budget, it barely doubled the amount. Yes, I know that ticket prices were lower in the 1990s but this film was not that big of a hit. Not saying it needed to be, but even when I talked about with people I knew back in my teens (in the early-2000s), some people said they had never heard of it. I mean I wouldn’t rate it too high but I still like the film okay, if fine. A lot of the basketball scenes were done well. The story actually worked when looking at the perspectives of the three main characters.
Overall, I would call this an underrated film.
3.75/5
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