Juice and South Central Reviews

Juice boasts an impressive cast, including the likes of Omar Epps (best known as House’s Dr Foreman), Samuel L Jackson, Queen Latifah and, best of all, late rap legend Tupac. The film follows a group of four school-skipping friends in Harlem, all of whom are fairly dopey, huggable hip-hoppers, rather than violent gang-bangers. Q (Epps) dreams of becoming a superstar DJ and auditions for a prestigious competition. Bishop (Tupac) however, wishes the group to become a fully-fledged gang; he buys a gun and convinces his friends to stick up a convenience shop, which proves to be the central climax. The rest of the film deals with the unfortunate aftermath.

It may be somewhat rough around the edges, but Juice is an exciting and often humorous drama. Its director, Ernest R. Dickerson may have gone onto bigger and better things in recent years – his television work includes Treme, Dexter, The Walking Dead and the behemoth that is The Wire – but Juice is an early indicator of his quality touch. Tupac is an engaging screen presence, though there’s a tragic irony in his character’s gun-lust, given real life events involving the rapper and firearms. The soundtrack is also excellent and consists of some choice cuts of premium old skool hip hop.

South Central is slightly more expansive in its scope and comes across a little like the Crips’ answer to Goodfellas. Bobby is a young man involved in the formation of the Deuce gang on the opposite coast to Juice, on the streets of LA. After being convicted for killing a rival gang boss – and thus paving the way for Deuce supremacy – Bobby is incarcerated for ten years. In the meantime, his young son Jimmy becomes embroiled in the Deuce gang and becomes both a perpetrator and victim of violence. Again, the film looks to how this cycle of absent fathers and criminal violence could be put to a stop.

Glenn Plummer is outstanding as Bobby and is the glue that holds the whole film together. It may be slightly softer than Juice and a whole lot more sentimental, but South Central is perhaps the slightly better film. Though my lefty sensibilities force me to raise an eyebrow at the film’s insistence of the importance of the traditional family unit in remedying violence, it would be foolish to deny it isn’t a factor at all. And whilst the film may be a little heavy-handed in its moralising, it is not at the expense of numerous gripping and shocking moments.

Both films are eye-opening and thrilling accounts and have aged surprisingly well. If you’ve an interest in American gang culture in the nineties or urban films such as Boyz N the Hood or Do the Right Thing, then this duo is well worth seeking out. I guess the most important thing to take from both of them is that those responsible for violence are very often victims themselves. Juice andSouth Central are excellent films with a welcome social conscience.

The Dilemma Review

Vince Vaughn arguably hasn’t had a leading role in a decent film since 2004 with Dodgeball, which seems like an awfully long time ago. And whilst The Dilemma does not really hail a glorious comeback, it is something of an interesting failure.

Ronny and Nick (Vaughn and James) are best friends and business partners on the cusp of sealing a major deal with Dodge automobiles, having successfully pitched their idea for an electric car engine that provides the same revs and rumbles as a gas-guzzler. Things become problematic, however, when Ronny spies Nick’s wife Geneva (Ryder) kissing another man (Tatum). Ronny’s titular dilemma is how and when to tell Nick about Geneva’s infidelity and whether telling him sooner rather than later will compromise Nick’s abilities in the engine room in the crucial week before their big presentation. Ronny’s increasingly secretive nature also jeopardises his own relationship with Beth (Connelly). The action is directed by Ron Howard.

In its original draft, I’m willing to bet that The Dilemma’s script was actually very good – despite the film’s frothy, friendly, advertising campaign, the picture is actually surprisingly dark at times. Ronny’s previous gambling addiction informs much of the action and his friends’ suspicions of him. The effects of infidelity on lovers and friends are also portrayed with something approaching brutal honesty. Unfortunately, the film has rather obviously been rewritten into a rather tamer beast, possibly at the behest of its director or star.

A more mainstream-friendly rewrite is not the film’s only problem. Drastic shifts in tone, an uneven focus on the engine-development subplot, rather outdated usage of the word ‘gay’ and a slow start to the humour don’t help the film. Women are given something of a short shrift in the film. Jennifer Connelly is lumbered with dull role and given little opportunity to shine and Winona Ryder’s ‘bitch’ role seems reductive of the more complex issues hinted at in the script and is also a rather annoying stereotype. Whilst Ryder’s character takes whatever flak is thrown at her, the menfolk are seemingly beyond reproach. There are also several weird flaws in the plot – the strand that discusses Nick’s visitations of massage parlours is never resolved and it seems strange that Ronny wouldn’t tell Beth about Geneva’s unfaithfulness straight away, rather than risking their relationship. There’s also a needless layer of extra jeopardy added between Geneva and Ronny that serves very little to the plot.

There are other flaws too, but to list too many would distract from the film’s strong points. The cast give generally decent performances and Vaughn in particular redeems himself somewhat for the recent tripe he has put his name to with a good comic performance (his toast at Beth’s parents’ anniversary party being an obvious highlight). Channing Tatum is also surprisingly funny as Geneva’s younger lover and Queen Latifah also raises a smile in a minor role. The charm of the cast, some genuine, if infrequent moments of humour and the central conundrum of the plot saveThe Dilemma from being a total car crash. Whilst it is perhaps too problematic to justify parting with ten pounds at the cinema, it may enjoy more interest on DVD. And even if you don’t like Vince Vaughn, you can console yourself with the frankly astonishing frequency with which he gets smacked in the face in the film.