If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Review: Get Rich or Die Tryin' (*)
GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN'
A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2005 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): * Rambling, boring and full of bad messages for our youth, GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN' tells the story of a hard-working, gun-toting crack dealer named Marcus (Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson). To be fair, Marcus wasn't always a crack dealer. Back when he was grade-school age, he had what he claimed was less than a minimum wage job as a coke dealer. He did, however, earn enough to get what he really wanted -- just the right label of designer sneakers and a big shiny gun. His life of crime, however, proves to be just the right background for a career as a gangsta rapper, teaching kids that the best way to make it in the world of rap is through a solid criminal background. Great. But, even if -- and that's a big "if" -- you can ignore the movie's messages, the story plods along covering ground that you've seen a hundred times before and usually better. All of the guys wear the same sort of clothes, the only difference is in the gaudiness of their gold chains. "Everyone was in love with my mom, so anyone could have been my dad," Marcus explains to us in the beginning in voice-over. Katrina (Serena Reeder), his mother, had her corner to deal drugs, and, after she was murdered by another dealer, he decided that "it was time to join the family business." When he grows up -- as in getting larger, but not as in maturing -- he gets his own crew so that he can be a bigger time dealer, with his own S500 Mercedes paid for with cash. Along the way, Marcus and his co-workers do talk about values. One of them is "respect," which they take to mean that dealers should respect each other's territories (read corners). They also have snappy phrases, such as, "Crack means money; money means war." In no time, the blacks and the Colombians are gunning each other down in the street. But, not to fear, in the last part of the last act, Marcus finally gets to go on stage to a live audience in order to rap. To show them that he has left the world of crime behind -- or to show them how foolishly brave he is -- he takes off his bulletproof jacket while on stage. The good news is that the actors' enunciation is of the low, mumble type with little life or emotion in their words. This means that much of their drivel will be unintelligible. I suspect the audiences will not be missing much. I suggest that, unless you are a gangsta rapper wannabe or are a big fan of 50 Cent, who actually sings very little in the movie, you are going to want to miss this entire film. HUSTLE & FLOW, which was released a few months ago, is an infinitely better movie covering the rap world. GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN' runs a long 2:00. It is rated R for "strong violence, pervasive language, drug content, sexuality and nudity" and would be acceptable for older teenagers. The film opens nationwide in the United States on Wednesday, November 9, 2005. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas. Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com Email: ************************************************** ********************* Want free reviews and weekly movie and video recommendations via Email? Just send me a letter with the word "subscribe" in the subject line. |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
AL: Court issues history-making decision in child custody case | Dusty | Child Support | 1 | August 3rd 05 01:07 AM |
Child abuse by OBs: A simple no peer review required solution | Todd Gastaldo | Pregnancy | 3 | March 20th 05 01:22 AM |
Foster care board keeps watch over Arizona children | wexwimpy | Foster Parents | 0 | March 30th 04 07:16 PM |
Review: DCF cases were closed too early | Wex Wimpy | Foster Parents | 0 | September 2nd 03 05:35 PM |
VULVA vs. VAGINA (episiotomy anatomy - again) | Todd Gastaldo | Pregnancy | 0 | August 2nd 03 08:49 PM |