New Jack City

[StevePulaski]

New Jack City (1991)
Directed by: Mario Van Peebles

Drug dealer Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes) helps out street-junkie Pookie (Chris Rock) in New Jack City.

Rating: ★★★

New Jack City continues to find ways to be more and more noteworthy, right down to its director, noted blaxploitation pioneer Mario Van Peebles, who uses a genre once largely confined to joke and ridicule to great, serious effect with this particular film. One could look at New Jack City and say it is more of an urban Scarface, acknowledging the crack epidemic that occurred in American during the 1980's and early 1990's with incredible attention to detail. The only difference is it seemed this film was more understood and digested than the other film, for I've never seen merchandise glorifying Nino Brown like I have Tony Scarface.

New Jack City follows the gang known as the Cash Money Brothers, the dominant drug gang in New York City during the early days and succeeding years of the crack epidemic that ended lives, worsened poverty, and worked to cripple the lives of many affected by it, directly and indirectly. We follow notorious gang leader Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes), who has baffled police and detectives while captivating those around him with his cut-throat deals, lavish lifestyle, and his carefully-constructed empire off of the destruction of lives in the already struggling area of the New York City projects. Undercover detective Scotty Appleton (Ice T) finds himself learning more and more about Nino the deeper he invests himself in the city's drug scene but finds him increasingly difficult to track and discover. He spends most of his time concocting stings, one of them against Pookie (Chris Rock), a petty junkie victim to the harsh drug and the repercussions it brings.

Writers Thomas Lee Wright and Barry Michael Cooper dared explore the topic of the American crack epidemic when no one else was really speaking of it in film. Rap songs seemed to be the only way you could hear about it, as songs, which, from the beginning boasted brutal honesty and unfiltered truth, detailed the horrors that went along with use of the white killer. The fact that Wright and Cooper had the gall to attack this present but collectively ignored idea head-on deserves considerable praise in itself. The fact that it's directed with an admirable slickness, with a variety of different shot structures and techniques by its director, is another feat that is truly fit for praise.

Van Peebles actually conducts the film in a similar vein as many action, crime dramas of the 1990's did, through corniness, frequent action scenes, overarching political commentary, and quiet homages to other films. It's amazing because New Jack City isn't much different in style and structure to the films of its time period that were panned, while this film went on to rise above a lot of its predecessors and sister films thanks to its recognition of an enormous national problem. In addition, Van Peebles brings an equally subtle mix of blaxploitation style to his directorial approach to this material, centering a movie on a common urban problem and portraying it as it really was - often horrifying and crippling.

New Jack City, however, is far from perfect in any sense. There is a tonal unevenness, especially with the acting, which shows Snipes and Ice-T in cut-throat, serious mode one minute before cutting to Chris Rock's obnoxious Pookie character, who often comes off as ridiculous and goofy. While his character necessary, there is an undeniable sense of overacting to his performance as a junkie, which is a core character in the film as a whole. By making that character goofy and a product of overacting limits the amount of emotional leverage he can have, even if there is an attempt at a heartfelt scene about a quarter of the way through the film. With Rock's performance being frequently outlandish and distracting, we almost forget how great of an impact Snipes or Ice-T can have, especially Snipes, portraying an enigmatic drug dealer with a brash convincing way about him.

The tonal inconsistency is New Jack City's major problem, but its commonality makes it only more noteworthy than it already was, exploring a time period that wasn't talked about or portrayed in film until it became something that couldn't be ignored. Despite the glaring issue, there's a refreshing honesty with the film that, in itself, defines why the film has gained such a massive following over time and serves as one of the nineties best films in terms of depicting a culture and a serious national problem.

Starring: Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Chris Rock, and Judd Nelson. Directed by: Mario Van Peebles.