Review of Dead Presidents (1995) by Aaron N — 15 Jan 2010

Kirby: Everyone in this town knows I've only got one leg. And that motherfucker grabbed the wrong one.

Years ago I saw the previews for this movie; and all I gathered was that Hendrix's "All Arond the Watchtower" sounded really cool next to atmospheric shots of a mime heist in New York. Of course, seeing this film now, there is a complete hour and 35 minutes before any element of a heist film really comes into play. That being said, there is a lot of good movie here, before the last act takes things off the rails a bit. One thing is for sure, the Hughes Brothers no how to make a great looking cinematic feature.

Larenz Tate is Anthony Curtis, a good-natured high school kid in 60s New York who is enjoying life with his girlfriend, Delilah and good friends, Skip (Chris Tucker in a pretty good performance) and Jose (Freddy Rodriguez), and running numbers for a local tough guy, Kirby (Keith David, who's always awesome). Those days are not to last, however, as all three of the young friends end up in Vietnam. Following a fairly lengthy and well-done segment in the Nam, all three end up back in the old neighborhood, where Anthony finds adjusting to civilian life difficult, with a new family all of the sudden and not much respect for his service added to it. Soon (and rather suddenly), the whole bunch of them are planning an armored car heist, but things don't turn out as planned.

Based on true events of an actual veteran, the film has four basic parts. First at home, then in Nam, then back at home, and then the heist. The first two parts work much better than the latter. I kind of blame this on Tate's character, which is sad, because I like Larenz Tate; for some reason, despite only just recently seeing him in these Hughes Brothers movies, I've always noticed him in roles through the years, but in this movie, his character just doesn't seem to justify the actions taken by the end.

There is a lot to like in this film however. Despite the autodrive ending act, the film looks great throughout. Just as in Meanace 2 Society, the Hughes Brothers show again that they are very gifted with their camera work (which could bode well for Book of Eli). There are great shots and sequences in this movie. The score by Danny Elfman of all people is quite effective, as well as the awesome 60s soundtrack featured throughout.

By no means a great movie, there are still plenty of good merits, namely the filmmaking and supporting actors featured, that make this a watchable film.

Anthony Curtis: No bad habits, ma. Except for a little killing.