Dead Presidents

Dead Presidents
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Albert Hughes Allen Hughes
Produced by	Albert Hughes Allen Hughes
Written by	Screenplay: Michael Henry Brown Story: Hughes brothers Michael Henry Brown
Starring	Larenz Tate Keith David Chris Tucker N'Bushe Wright Freddy Rodriguez Bokeem Woodbine
Music by	Danny Elfman
Cinematography	Lisa Rinzler
Editing by	Dan Lebental
Studio	Hollywood Pictures Caravan Pictures Underworld Entertainment
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures
Release date(s)	October 4, 1995
Running time	119 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$15 million
Gross revenue	$24,147,179 (domestically)

Dead Presidents is a 1995 crime drama film written by Michael Henry Brown and directed by the Hughes brothers (Albert and Allen Hughes), and starring Larenz Tate, Keith David, Chris Tucker, Freddy Rodriguez, N'Bushe Wright and Bokeem Woodbine. The film chronicles the life of Anthony Curtis, focusing on his teenage years as a high school graduate and his experiences during the Vietnam War. As he returns to his hometown in The Bronx, Curtis finds himself struggling to support himself and his family, eventually turning to a life of crime.

Dead Presidents is based partly on the real life experiences of Haywood T. Kirkland, whose true story was detailed in the book Bloods: An Oral History of the Vietnam War by Black Veterans by Wallace Terry. Certain characters from the film are based on real acquaintances of Kirkland, who served time in prison after committing robbery in facepaint.^[1] Haywood eventually changed his name to Ari Sesu Merretazon and was released from prison for good behavior and contributing to the prison community.

Synopsis

Dead Presidents opens in the spring of 1969, as Anthony Curtis (Larenz Tate) is about to graduate from high school. Not wanting to go to college, but needing to get away from home to find himself, he enlists in the U.S. Marine Corps shortly after graduating high school. He is sent to Vietnam, leaving behind a middle-class family, a pregnant girlfriend (Rose Jackson), and a small time crook, Kirby (Keith David), who is like a second father.

Anthony is drafted in the military in 1971, alongside are two of his close friends, Skip (Chris Tucker) and Jose (Freddy Rodriguez). He also meets the gung ho lieutenant, Dugan (Jaimz Woolvett) and his wartime friend, Cleon (Bokeem Woodbine), a religious yet deadly staff sergeant. During their tour in Vietnam as members of a Force Recon unit, they experience the horror of war, losing several fellow Marines during combat. The Marines (specifically, Cleon) also commit atrocities, including executing enemy prisoners and beheading corpses for war trophies. One of their squad is the victim of terror tactics of the North Vietnamese; D'ambrosio (Michael Imperioli) is disemboweled and castrated alive. While waiting for medevac, Anthony, succumbing to the request of the dying D'ambrosio, gives the man a fatal dose of morphine. One of their squad is killed by stepping on a land mine and a night ambush ensues with NVA troops and half of Anthony's team is killed; Dugan is killed after Skip "freezes up" during the gunfight when he is ordered to cover him. Cleon manages to hold off the enemy long enough for Anthony and the last of the crew to escape.

When Anthony finally comes back to The Bronx in 1973, after two tours of duty and attaining the rank of sergeant, he discovers that returning to "normal" life isn't easy or pleasant. He finds his friend Skip, who used drugs during the war, is now a heroin addict. Jose after serving as a demolitions expert, during which he lost his hand, has become a pyromaniac. Cleon is now a devoted minister. And Kirby has since become legitimate due to police cracking down on his criminal business. Anthony is laid off from his job in a butcher shop and finds himself unable to support his daughter. His girlfriend admits to sleeping with another man to provide for her daughter (who may not even be Anthony's). Anthony meets his girlfriend's sister Delilah (a member of the "Nat Turner Cadre", a fictional group similar to black revolutionaries) who has always had a crush on him and decides to help him with a plot he devises. Anthony, Kirby, Skip, Jose, Delilah and Cleon plan to rob an armored car making a stop at the Noble Street Federal Reserve Bank of The Bronx.

Skip and Cleon act as lookouts, Kirby is the getaway driver, Delilah waits in a dumpster across the street and Anthony and Jose hide under the loading docks, all armed. Though they plan the heist very carefully, it goes horribly wrong when a policeman stumbles on the scene. The policeman interferes resulting in Kirby attacking him only to be shot in the arm and Skip shooting the policeman in the head. The security guards engage the robbers in a gunfight, ending with Anthony and Delilah killing most and Delilah dying while saving Anthony as the truck leaves. After Kirby tries to block the truck with his car, Jose makes use of an excessive amount of explosives, destroying the armored car and burning most of the cash. They escape with what money is left, but Jose is killed after being struck by a police car.

The surviving four try to lay low after the robbery. Cleon however begins handing out cash to members of his congregation, also buying a new Cadillac car which he obviously cannot afford. Anthony and Skip give out presents to poor children on Christmas. Cleon is finally arrested at his church and gives up the other thieves. NYPD officers storm Skip's apartment to find that he has died of a heroin overdose. As Kirby and Anthony prepare to leave the country, they are ambushed at Kirby's pool hall by the police and arrested. Anthony is tried, convicted, and sent to prison for 15 years to life; he berates the judge (Martin Sheen), who also goes so far as to call him a disgrace to any person who put on a uniform and served his country. The last scene of the shows Anthony on a bus headed for prison.

Themes

The film depicts the struggle of returning war veterans who are neglected by the US government. Many veterans of the Vietnam War were denied benefits, compensation, and recognition for their efforts in serving their country.^[2] Anthony is no exception; upon his return to The Bronx he is unable to find gainful employment to support his daughter, born while he was on tour in Vietnam. His friend Kirby, a Korean War veteran, who lost a leg during combat, is a man who turned to crime to sustain a living.

Cast

Soundtracks

Two soundtracks were released by Capitol Records, the first, was released on September 26, 1995 and peaked at 14 on the Billboard 200 and 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, the second was released on April 2, 1996, but only made it to 45 on the R&B charts.

Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (August 2008)

• This film derived its title from the phrase "Dead Presidents", a hip-hop slang term used to refer to American currency; referring to the faces of deceased Presidents on United States tender.
• This movie features the actors Larenz Tate, Bokeem Woodbine, Terrence Howard, and Clifton Powell, who also all appeared together in the 2004 movie Ray.
• The facepaint scheme used by J Mann (Jason Popson), a former vocalist for the band Mushroomhead, is based on the movie.
• This film is spoofed in the movie Half Baked: in the robbery scene, Guillermo Díaz's character Scarface wears black clothing and paints his face in a fashion similar to that of the characters in this film.
• The robbery scene is also spoofed in the film Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood with Helen Martin's face painted in the same fashion.
• Terrance Howard, Larenz Tate, and Keith David also appeared in the film Crash.

References

1. ^ "'Dead Presidents' Precedent: The Heist Is Only Half of the Story, Says the Man Who Pulled It Off."
2. ^ Evans-Pfeifer, Kelly. American Veterans. Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War. 1996.

External links

• Dead Presidents at the Internet Movie Database
• Dead Presidents at Rotten Tomatoes