13-year-old Benjie lives in a bad neighborhood in Los Angeles with his mother Sweets and her boyfriend Butler, who wants to play the saxophone for a living but has to get a real job as a janitor to pay the bills. Benjie's grandmother also lives with them. His mother and grandmother care about him, and Butler seems to want to.
Benjie appears intelligent, and at the very least he is street smart. He has the ability to write, but doesn't seem to want to work hard to reach his full potential. He and his friends like to go up on the roof of an abandoned building and smoke (just what they are smoking I'm not sure). Eventually the young men discover something worse than smoking.
Benjie doesn't like Butler, who wants to try to be his father. For someone who isn't married to the boy's mother, he sure attempts to be strict, and a couple of times he comes close to going overboard. But the young man needs someone to keep him straight, or he may end up in prison or dead. That's the way this neighborhood is. The movie's title reflects the fact that Benjie does not see a lot of what he considers positive influences (even though his family tries). Because there often seems to be little hope and because Benjie makes mistakes, the movie is depressing at times, and at one point I wondered how there could possibly be a happy ending, or if there was going to be one. A near-tragedy toward the end, though, helped make everything seem like it was going to be all right.
I thought pretty much everyone gave a good performance. This is a movie for anyone who cares about black heritage, though it may be a little too intense for young children. One of the best things about the movie was Glynn Turman's performance as Nigeria, an outgoing, motivated teacher who tried to make black achievement something special, teaching his students all about the men and women of color who contributed to our society, in much the same way 'Black History Month' does now. Paul Winfield and Cicely Tyson did very well also.
There were a few funny moments, such as when Benjie bought a suit that would look just perfect on a stage in Las Vegas, or perhaps a used car lot. In the same scene, Benjie's grandmother showed how she used to dance.
The music was really good. With the opening credits there was jazz-influenced R & B with violins (really nice), and most of the other music seemed to be some type of jazz.
This movie was chosen to be an African Heritage Network Monthly Movie Classic, which is usually a good sign. I thought it was worthwhile.
Possible SPOILER:
When Benjie had to go to drug rehab, his experiences were shown through a series of sepia-tone photographs. This was very effective in showing Benjie's progress. With facial expressions, a wide range of emotions could be seen, from the terror of withdrawal to the joy of interacting with others.
Benjie appears intelligent, and at the very least he is street smart. He has the ability to write, but doesn't seem to want to work hard to reach his full potential. He and his friends like to go up on the roof of an abandoned building and smoke (just what they are smoking I'm not sure). Eventually the young men discover something worse than smoking.
Benjie doesn't like Butler, who wants to try to be his father. For someone who isn't married to the boy's mother, he sure attempts to be strict, and a couple of times he comes close to going overboard. But the young man needs someone to keep him straight, or he may end up in prison or dead. That's the way this neighborhood is. The movie's title reflects the fact that Benjie does not see a lot of what he considers positive influences (even though his family tries). Because there often seems to be little hope and because Benjie makes mistakes, the movie is depressing at times, and at one point I wondered how there could possibly be a happy ending, or if there was going to be one. A near-tragedy toward the end, though, helped make everything seem like it was going to be all right.
I thought pretty much everyone gave a good performance. This is a movie for anyone who cares about black heritage, though it may be a little too intense for young children. One of the best things about the movie was Glynn Turman's performance as Nigeria, an outgoing, motivated teacher who tried to make black achievement something special, teaching his students all about the men and women of color who contributed to our society, in much the same way 'Black History Month' does now. Paul Winfield and Cicely Tyson did very well also.
There were a few funny moments, such as when Benjie bought a suit that would look just perfect on a stage in Las Vegas, or perhaps a used car lot. In the same scene, Benjie's grandmother showed how she used to dance.
The music was really good. With the opening credits there was jazz-influenced R & B with violins (really nice), and most of the other music seemed to be some type of jazz.
This movie was chosen to be an African Heritage Network Monthly Movie Classic, which is usually a good sign. I thought it was worthwhile.
Possible SPOILER:
When Benjie had to go to drug rehab, his experiences were shown through a series of sepia-tone photographs. This was very effective in showing Benjie's progress. With facial expressions, a wide range of emotions could be seen, from the terror of withdrawal to the joy of interacting with others.