116 - "Juice"

"Juice" is a good film. It could have been greater if Tupac's character "Bishop" wasn't written to be so James Cagney and it's funny that the film ended in the fashion of "White Heat" but it's because of that film Tupac decided to go deep into the psyche of a man with practically nothing to lose at a young age growing up in early '90s New York. Harlem to be more exact. The film is about senior high schoolers trying to figure themselves out and it's root is basically the time and location they're living in. It's tough in the streets and if you want to make it, you might have to consider extreme measures. The film is not all violence, we are shown a window of Hip Hop which plays a deep role in the film. It's a character, it highlights a side of New York. You not only hear it, you see it in the fashion that is shown (great production design) & the music where society decides to vibe, and you also feel it as to how Bishop, Raheem, and Steel try to feign it as much as they can. But we all know, it shows us how music can be not only a way out, but it also has the power to fufill artistic purpose. I didn't mentioned this in the review, but Ernest Dickerson knows how to make a film and an effective one with his choice of shots that he knows it adds the right amount of tension and aloofness. Overall, what I saw is still ingredients for an iconic film such as "Juice".

Three out of four tokes.

#juicemovie #tupac #hiphop