Details
Movie Description
Vivid documentary-like anecdotes focusing on a homeboy who is a sociopathic killer and another who tells the story of how their parents' lives also fed the cycle of drug use, casual homicide and monstrous, mind-numbing violence.
Synopsis
When Caine and O-Dog, two handsome boyz-from-the-hood, breeze into a Korean grocery, the anxious grocer and his watchful wife find their imposing presence troubling. Resentful of the sharp-eyed survelliance and air of suspicion around them, Caine and O-Dog yell epithets at the mom-and-pop owners. Angered by the shouting match and a remark about his mother, trigger-happy O-Dog shoots the grocers. On his way out, Caine grabs the videotape from the store's security camera. Back in the 'hood, O-Dog makes a boastful ritual of showing the tape to friends who find his recklessness funnier than amateur night at the Apollo. But it's just a matter of time before the cops catch up with Caine and O-Dog, especially since Caine's fingerprints were on the 40-ounce bottle he dropped at the scene of the crime.
Film Notes
Rated MPAA R, running time 97 minutes.
Rated BBFC 18 by the British Board of Film Classification.
The Criterion Collection Special Edition laserdisc (#CC1371L) includes commentary and a number of short films by the directors, audition and rehearsal footage, storyboards, stills, production information, and the original theatrical trailer. Additionally, this version is the uncut directors' cut of the film, which features footage missing from the theatrical release.
Industry Reviews
"...A very flashy debut....Crackling ensemble acting..."
New York Times - p.C13 - Stephen Holden (05/26/1993)
"...Groundbreaking..."
Rolling Stone - p.121 - Peter Travers (07/08/1993)
"...Fierce, violent and searing in its observation, the film makes all previous excursions seem like a walk in the park....There is a poetry to the images that is immediate and visceral..."
Variety - Leonard Klady (05/17/1993)
"...As well-directed a film as you'll see from America this year, an unsentimental and yet completely involving story of a young man who cannot see a way around his fate..."
Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert (05/26/1993)
"Along with BOYZ N THE HOOD, this marks the film world's awakening to a dark period of gang violence in early-'90s LA."
Uncut - Uncut Staff (09/01/2004)
Quotations
"This is the truth. This is what's real." -- marketing line for the film
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