spoiler
I had a hard time understanding why so many of the characters cared about Mekhi Phifer's character Strike. He seemed to have a maddening lack of interest in anything but his toy trains and his ulcer. He was so passive that I couldn't believe that I was supposed to care much how he ended up. I see the point that's made with his character - that he's young man trying to establish himself in a world already dominated by the power of the drug economy, Rodney Little and the NYPD - but his lack of interest in his brother's fate was offputting.
Aside from the exasperation I felt watching Strike shrug about everything, the movie is packed with really intelligent performances and is beautifully shot and scored. Thomas Jefferson Byrd and Delroy Lindo deliver menace, authority and convey the ruthless intelligence of people who have been running a dangerous game for several decades. Lindo is especially amazing in the scenes where he cynically harvests his young drug pushers by becoming a magnanimous father figure, dispensing largesse, love and responsibility. Harvey Keitel and John Turturro don't do anything they haven't done in other films. Isaiah Washington's character, Victor, really gets put through the grinder in this movie and Washington makes his suffering real enough that I couldn't guess if or why he murdered the fast food clerk. Doesn't matter who did it really - everyone would have behaved the same way.
It felt kinda weird to see Keitel escorting yet another kid out of NY City. You get the feeling it's a hobby of his or something.
I had a hard time understanding why so many of the characters cared about Mekhi Phifer's character Strike. He seemed to have a maddening lack of interest in anything but his toy trains and his ulcer. He was so passive that I couldn't believe that I was supposed to care much how he ended up. I see the point that's made with his character - that he's young man trying to establish himself in a world already dominated by the power of the drug economy, Rodney Little and the NYPD - but his lack of interest in his brother's fate was offputting.
Aside from the exasperation I felt watching Strike shrug about everything, the movie is packed with really intelligent performances and is beautifully shot and scored. Thomas Jefferson Byrd and Delroy Lindo deliver menace, authority and convey the ruthless intelligence of people who have been running a dangerous game for several decades. Lindo is especially amazing in the scenes where he cynically harvests his young drug pushers by becoming a magnanimous father figure, dispensing largesse, love and responsibility. Harvey Keitel and John Turturro don't do anything they haven't done in other films. Isaiah Washington's character, Victor, really gets put through the grinder in this movie and Washington makes his suffering real enough that I couldn't guess if or why he murdered the fast food clerk. Doesn't matter who did it really - everyone would have behaved the same way.
It felt kinda weird to see Keitel escorting yet another kid out of NY City. You get the feeling it's a hobby of his or something.