Themes: Home From the War, Down on Their Luck, Dangerous Friends
Main Cast: Larenz Tate, Keith David, Chris Tucker, N'Bushe Wright, Freddy Rodriguez
Release Year: 1995
Country: US
Run Time: 119 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Albert Hughes and his brother Allen Hughes followed their striking debut Menace II Society with this ambitious look at the social and political lives of the African-American community in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Anthony Curtis (Larenz Tate) is a young man coming of age in the Bronx in 1968. Working two part-time jobs -- one as a milkman's helper and another for local numbers runner Kirby (Keith David) -- Anthony is torn between doing the right thing and trying to get by in a environment that offers few opportunities to young black men. After graduating from high school, Anthony decides to join the Marines, news that is not well-received by his parents, who want him to go to college, or his girlfriend Juanita (Rose Jackson), with whom Anthony recently lost his virginity. After serving a horrific tour of duty in Viet Nam with his friends Skip (Chris Tucker) and Jose (Freddy Rodriguez), Anthony finds himself back home in 1973, where Juanita has been raising the child he fathered before he shipped out, drugs and crime have crippled his community, and honest job prospects are practically nil. Eventually, Anthony falls in with Kirby, Skip, and Jose, who have teamed with Juanita's sister Delilah (N'Bushe Wright), a Black Power activist, and Cleon (Bokeem Woodbine), in a scheme to rob an armored truck taking worn greenbacks ("dead presidents") to a mint to be destroyed. Martin Sheen and Seymour Cassel appear unbilled in small roles. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Rose Jackson - Juanita Benson; Frank Albanese - Mr. Gianetti; Seymour Cassel - Saul; Rik Colitti - Cabbie; Cheryl Freeman - Mrs. Barton; Clifton Gonzalez Gonzalez - Betancourt; David Barry Gray - DeVaughn; Terrence Howard - Cowboy; Michael Imperioli - D'Ambrosio; Jean-Claude LaMarre - Ramsuer; Jenifer Lewis - Mrs. Curtis; Robert LuPone - Attorney Salvatore Rizzo; Larry McCoy - Nicky; James Pickens, Jr. - Mr. Curtis; Clifton Powell - Cutty; Tony Sirico - Officer Spinelli; Bernie Telsey - Protester #1; Carlton Wilborn - Spyder; Rodney Winfield - Mr. Warren; Bokeem Woodbine - Cleon; Jaimz Woolvett - Lt. Dugan; Martin Sheen - The Judge (uncredited); Isaiah Washington - Edward Curtis; Ryan Williams - Young Revolutionary; Robert Smith - Helicopter Pilot; Alvaleta Guess - Mrs. Benson; Sticky Fingaz - Martin; Elizabeth Rodriguez - Marisol; Monti Sharp - Officer Brown; Heather B. - Peaches; Cuc Dinh - Madame Minh; Joelle Hernandez - Sarah, Juanita's Child; Jordan Hernandez - Sarah, Juanita's Child; Daniel Kruse - Corporal Rob; Charles E. Lesene - Numbers Taker; Quynh Phann - Skivvie Girl; Robert Smith - Helicopter Pilot; Yen Chin Grow - Skivvie Girl; Tim Zay - Protester
Credit
Ken Hardy - Art Director, Risa Bramon Garcia - Casting, Mary Vernieu - Casting, Michael Bennett - Co-producer, Paul A. Simmons - Costume Designer, Joseph Ray - First Assistant Director, Jeff Ward - First Assistant Director, H.H. Cooper - First Assistant Director, Albert Hughes - Director, Allen Hughes - Director, Dan Lebental - Editor, Darryl Porter - Executive Producer, Danny Elfman - Composer (Music Score), Lance Anderson - Makeup, David Brisbin - Production Designer, Lisa Rinzler - Cinematographer, David Waterston - Cinematographer, Albert Hughes - Producer, Allen Hughes - Producer, Randy Ostrow - Producer, Karin Wiesel - Set Designer, Frank Stettner - Sound/Sound Designer, Chuck Jeffreys - Stunts, Bonnie Greenberg - Supervisor/Manager, Albert Hughes - Screenwriter, Allen Hughes - Screenwriter, Michael Henry Brown - Screenwriter
