JUICE (1992)

This movie might be best known for Dave Chapelle's impression of Samuel L. Jackson screaming about it but it deserves another look on its own merits.  I think Netflix occasionally recommends things based on current events and with all the hub bub over the holographic Tupac performance at Coachella recently I'm sure the great Netflix Recommendation Computer assumed that lots of people would be interested in this 1992 juvenile crime story starring a certain Tupac Shakur.  It might not be as famous as a west coast counterpart like Boyz N The Hood but since it's on Instant and it has flesh and blood Tupac, it deserves a watch.

Our four main characters are Harlem high school students.  Omar Epps plays the level-headed one who wants to be a DJ, Khalil Khan plays the lothario and peacemaker of the group, Jermaine Huggy Hopkins plays the funny fat guy, and Tupac Shakur plays the crazy one, the mad dog of the group.  Desperate for a little respect in a neighborhood that grinds people down at every chance, the group decides to rob the local bodega but of course things get more complicated than they planned and terrible decisions must be made.

This film was made 20 years ago, and aside from obvious difference like no cell phones, it's interesting to see what's different for kids today.  For one thing, when the gang plays hooky in this movie, they go a video arcade to play Street Fighter One, visit a record store to shoplift some actual records, visit a bar with a poorly monitored cigarette machine that only charges two dollars, and watch a black and white movie on TV.  Most of these activities are foreign at best or unrecognizable at worst to today's youth I'd wager.  They also end up in a rooftop chase with the cops but that was probably unusual for kids at any time.

When they watch White Heat on TV, Tupac is entranced by the mayhem of James Cagney while the others aren't paying attention.  Tupac is menacing in this film, when he's being phony-nice to someone's parents, or facing the wrong way in a crowded elevator, or picking fights he knows he can't win with Puerto Rican gangs.  When someone knocks the gun out of his hand, he grabs a 2x4.  In the long tradition of musicians wisely or not so wisely turning to acting, Tupac definitely would have been one of the better examples.

 
 ~ Ernest Dickerson was Spike Lee's cinematographer, including amazing work in Malcolm X of 1940's Boston and 1960's Mecca.  He later directed his own films including this, the better of the two Tales From The Crypt movies, Demon Knight, and the Snoop Dogg starring horror film Bones.  He also directed episodes of The Wire, The Walking Dead and many other TV shows.

~ Tupac also starred in Poetic Justice, Above The Rim, Bullet, Gridlock'd, and Gang Related before his death.

~ Jermain Huggy Hopkins was arrested in 2011 trying to buy 200 pounds of marijuana.  Bummer.

~ Musician cameos galore: EPMD, Special Ed, Ed Lover, Doctor Dré, Flex Alexander, Fab Five Freddy, and Treach all make appearances if you look hard enough.  Queen Latifiah has a small role as a DJ contest judge and Cindy Herron of En Vogue has a small role as Epps's girlfriend.

~ When some drops a gun in a crowded hallway, one of the bystanders picks up and pockets it quietly.  Never let a good gun go to waste.

~ Michael Badalucco with a mustache briefly plays a cop.

~ Sam Jackson has some great Sam Jackson-esque lines like 'you can pour syrup on shit, don't make it pancakes.'

~ Best quote from one-scene character goes to Blizzard for: "Pardon me but I'm bout to rob this place."

~ There was some controversy over the poster featuring Tupac holding a revolver; VHS and DVD copies of the film use an edited poster where his hands are empty.