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I really wish that I had seen this movie back when it was released in 1991 -- I might have appreciated it a lot more. New Jack City, to me, just didn't seem as "edgy" or as "ambitious" as it supposedly was back then; in fact, I thought it was characterized by hackneyed expressions and ideas. It did, at least, have a very charismatic and respectable performance from Wesley Snipes as Nino Brown -- an "Urban Tony Montana", it would seem -- and one of the most definitive Hip-Hop soundtracks ever to accompany a film.

A "New Jack" is a person new to the game. In this sense, Nino Brown and his crew -- the CMB, (Cash Money Brothers) -- are introduced to the drug crack cocaine, and begin distributing it to the streets of New York, developing a big money business during the time of the 1980s. Scotty (Ice-T) and Nick (Judd Nelson) are the streetwise cops given the go ahead to work their way into the heart of this company and shut it down... for good.

Snipes, in particular, is hugely convincing as the smart here, ruthless gangster -- the head of the whole drug operation. He generally appears as a threatening character, with an obvious admiration for Tony Montana (the film Scarface is shown at least twice in the background of Brown's apartment). There is also a surprisingly solid supporting performance from Chris Rock as the young drug addict, Pookie, attempting to come clean.

I, however, am not a huge fan of rappers turning into actors. Ice-T received a lot of praise at the time for his performance here as Scotty, but his character really lacks conviction. Particularly, when executing the line "I wanna kill you so bad it's making my dick hard," towards the finale of the film, his facial expressions seem completely unsubstantial (in other words, they seem much more comical than they are believable). His on-screen partner, Judd Nelson -- "the token white guy" -- isn't particularly convincing or memorable, either.

The "Crack Epidemic", as it was called, was deemed responsible for increasing the number of drug addicts and deaths, particularly within the black community. New Jack City presents an in-depth look at this world, not to just glorify it for the sake of a cinema hit, but to provoke genuine concern within the mind of the viewer. The film attempts to tackle this in an authentic and gritty manner, and its preachy premise is respectable in places, but I can think of films that have executed an anti-drug message in a much more memorable manner (Boyz N The Hood and Deep Cover, for example). 

Like I already said, I'd have probably enjoyed New Jack City a lot more if I had seen it at the time of its release; it does seem incredibly dated, whilst lacking that "shock value" of similar films that I’ve seen. Even so, it is a painful but truthful portrait of the influence of crack cocaine upon people's lives and still does deserve a watch. The soundtrack features notable contributions from Queen Latifah, Keith Sweat, 2 Live Crew, and, of course, Ice-T.

The DVD extras disc also features music videos and interviews with Hip-Hop artists such as Nate Dogg, Nappy Roots, and Warren G, in regards to the cultural importance of the film. Worth a look.

(C) Andy Carrington, 2009.