The hood movie craze was one of the best in my opinion. There was plenty of drama and crazy heartbreaking
shit to go around. The things that
happened in those pictures were real for the most part too. And such a large population of folks had to
deal with the violence, corruption, gangbanging and etc. every day. That material is perfect for any kind of art
while raising awareness for what’s going on.
Of course, these films also glorify the hood lifestyle to a certain
extent so it cuts both ways.
I think we can all pretty much agree that among hood movies
there are the big three (not to be confused with The Big 3): Boyz n the Hood, Juice and Menace II Society. Menace
is my personal favorite but they’re all good.
New Jersey Drive is a second
tier hood flick. It’s got the vibe but
not the best script.
Jason Petty (get it? Do you?
Are you sure? It’s really not
obvious what his last name is alluding to oh wait it is) is a young black man
trying to survive on the streets of Newark, NJ.
He and his friends like to steal cars and go for joyrides. The cops always seem to be right on their ass
though and when they hit the siren these kids attempt to escape. Most of the time they get away but sometimes shit
gets real and someone gets killed.
The cops are portrayed as such evil fuckin’ pricks. Almost every time they’ll use excessive force
and even go as far as to start shooting at people for no reason. All of the cops are white too. So this film definitely has an agenda.
Everyone in this does a good job, especially the lead (Shannon
Corley (The Substitute)). You get the sense that he’s kinda smart, like
all protagonists in hood movies, but can’t seem to distance himself from illegal
shit or escape his environment. Jason is
less of a victim than say Tre from Boyz
or Q from Juice however. No matter how many times he gets busted or beat
up he still goes out there and steals cars ‘n shit. It takes a long time for him to learn from
his mistakes so it’s hard to feel as sorry for him as I normally would.
One of the best sequences is when Jason and his pal Midget
(Gabriel Casseus (Black Dog)) are
just hanging out drinking 40’s. The main
villain cop, Roscoe (Saul Stein (Open
Water)), comes by in his cruiser and starts giving them a hard time. So Midget throws his 40 at the car which leads
to everyone scrambling to flee the scene.
The next few parts would be a little convoluted to explain so I’ll just
say that it involves some more 40’s and more cops. It’s great because it’s funny and sad at the
same time.
Nick Gomez writes and directs and he does ok I guess. There isn’t a lot of style to this piece but
it’s clear and straightforward which I appreciate. He went on to become a TV guy even directing
a couple of episodes of Oz and The Sopranos. Spike Lee produced this and you can certainly
feel his influence. The anti-white
streak that runs through the picture is prominent and, well, kinda racist but it
actually didn’t bother me a whole lot.
The usual hood movie tropes make their appearance here too
like a dead fuckin’ serious narration by the main character, a drive by
shooting, retaliation, 40’s, weed, some rough dudes playing cards, getting
rounded up by the cops, being interrogated by the cops, being harassed by the
cops, etc. The only real unique element
is that this takes place in Newark instead of New York City or Los Angeles. It doesn’t feel different in that regard but
they tried a different setting.
NJ Drive is an
enjoyable hood film but suffers from a couple of problems. I already mentioned that Jason could be a
little more redeeming, but the main one is that it’s repetitive. These guys steal cars and run from the cops
over and over again. I could see an
argument that this mirrors real life with young black men being stopped by the
cops and racially profiled all the time.
In that sense I get it. It’s a
vicious cycle that’s incredibly hard to break.
But still, they could’ve done the steal-a-car-run-from-the-cops scene one
less time I think.
I guess I liked it. It’s
definitely not a bad a film. The title is
way too plain though. It gets lamer the
more I think about it too. Whatever, if
you feel like going for a New Jersey drive in the hood then check it out.
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