Review of New Jack City (1991) by Solo Y — 06 Aug 2015

Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes) and his gang, the Cash Money Brothers, become the dominant drug ring in New York City once crack cocaine is introduced to the streets during the late 1980s. His gang consists of his best friend, Gee Money; enforcer Duh Duh Duh Man; gun moll Keisha; Nino's girlfriend, Selina, and her tech-savvy cousin, Kareem. Nino converts the Carter, an apartment complex, into a crack house. Gee Money and Keisha kill rival Fat Smitty, the CMB throws out the tenants, and Nino forces the landlord out onto the streets naked. Undercover detective Scotty Appleton (Ice T) attempts to make a deal with stick-up kid Pookie (Chris Rock), but Pookie runs off with the money. Scotty chases Pookie and shoots him in the leg, but the police let him go. When Detective Stone (Mario Van Peebles) comes under pressure to solve the growing drug problem in the city, he contacts Scotty and partner him up with loose-cannon Nick Peretti (Judd Nelson). Both having knowledge of the street and its environments is the key. Will Scotty and Nick be able to stop Nino and his gang?

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three and a half stars out of four, writing: Truffaut once said it was impossible to make an anti-war movie, because the war sequences would inevitably be exciting and get the audience involved on one side or the other. It is almost as difficult to make an anti-drug movie, since the lifestyle and money of the drug dealers looks like fun, at least until they're killed. This movie pulls off that tricky achievement. Nino, who looks at the dead body of Scarface and laughs, does not get the last laugh. Time Out London described the film as "a superior example of what used to be called blaxploitation. "New Jack City" was the highest grossing independent feature of 1991. I saw "New Jack City" at the movies in 1991, and judging from my memory I did like this anti-drug action flick. I remember vividly the bicycle chase between Scotty and Pookie and the general NYC vibe coming from the screen with Ice T´s great "New Jack Hustler" pumping in the background. I just bought the DVD to re-see it and I must say that it hasn´t maybe aged that well in my mind. The filmmaking style of the 90s is truly vivid with tilted angles, strong colours and too many close ups plus the terrible clothing styles that was seen in many films from that era. The acting is unbalanced I would say. Ice T, Chris Rock (despite some strong scenes) and Mario Van Peebles are hardly top actors while Snipes does an ok portrayal of Nino Brown. The cinematography has its moments, while the script has maybe a bit too much going on with too many characters and subplots which Van Peebles doesn´t manage to handle fully in the end. Van Peebles fails in the editing as well, it´s a bit everywhere which loses the red thread in the scene construction and plotline. It becomes incoherent and patchy. In many ways "New Jack City" is a standard affair when seeing it today and I didn´t like it as much today as I did in 1991. But, there´s also a strong anti-drug/anti-crime message that´s clear, which is weaved into the story and that´s a plus.