Schule der Gewalt

If you haven't been to the streets of an urban town where drugs and guns are on the boost of popularity, then this is the film for you. After seeing Strapped you'll know exactly what happens in places all over the world where teenagers become shcool drop-outs and gun buyers. Strapped is a film which keeps you awake during the whole movie. Watch it, you won't be disappointed!

I must give credit where credit is due. This film has a pretty good, well-structured script, with a powerful crisis and climax in the end. I must commend the writer for putting together such a script.

But the acting wasn't convincing most of the time, and the Brooklyn portrayal, which includes the character's choices of clothing, didn't give a realistic image of the Brooklyn I know. I would also probably change the music in the film, cut-out the snippets of reggae music during the revealing of a gun in the film, and the emphasis made on the main actors to look like thugs. The actors over did their performances as criminals most of the time and it was a bit distracting to someone, like myself, who grew up hanging out with true thugs from the streets of Brooklyn, New York.

But besides all of that, the film was still great. From a grade of A+, being excellent, to a F, being the worst, I give this film a C...

This is an absolutley great film. Forest Whiteka has excelled himself with a great detailed account of the lives of young black youths struggling through poverty to survive. The director of photography has chosen some brilliant urban backdrops to set the picture alive, almost as if you're a third person view within the film. The story is compelling and well structured, sure it's been done before, but it's the way it has been done that makes this movie so interesting to watch. Has some classic elements of other films such as The Warriors in places, but this only adds to the surreal effect being created here by Forest!

It also has some of the most shocking scenes from the 1993 era. A definite must see for urban-gangsta fans everywhere. Bokeem displays an amazing performance.

Why it wasn't a video release seems beyond me.

Take any of the dramas that came out in the early 90's about young African American men caught up in the dope game, everything that entails and substitute guns for them instead. Voila what you've got is the made-for-tv movie called 'Strapped' where some solid performances aren't enough to rise above a formula story. Accomplished actor Forest Whitaker directs in his behind the camera debut.

Diquan Mitchell (Bokeem Woodbine) spent time behind bars and isn't looking to go back. Trying to go straight takes a turn however when his pregnant gf is busted for selling crack cocaine & needs him to come up with bail money. Now it's a complicated mix of allegiances between old friend Bamboo (Fredro Starr) making bank selling guns on the street as a middle-man and Detective McRae (Michael Biehn). Who wants to help Diquan and his situation, but only if he gets him a high-end bust.

Woodbine, Biehn and Starr are all more than adequate. Solid pieces of acting, but they're constrained by a cookie cutter plot that doesn't have anything new to say on the topics of crime and everyday life. Also not lacking in questionable or downright cliche moments fueled by Diquan. Don't get me started on that forced and rather silly ending too.

Is 'Strapped' about guns? Poverty? Misguided thinking? It's hard to tell by the time the finale rolls around where some senseless deaths and loudmouth behavior gave the film it's most visceral bursts of energy. Whitaker and an able cast are up for the material, but this HBO made movie never does anything to set itself apart which explains why it's largely been forgotten about in a sea of similar films.

Although this is a credible story with good directing, I found the characters not very believable and some of the acting over done. Bokeem Woodbine as Diquan Mitchell is okay, but the turnaround in his state of mind at the end of the show is quite astonishing.

The ending leaves a sour taste in the mouth. Sure, it may be intentional but it unravels the whole point of the movie. What I thought was the story of a ex-con trying to make good his life suddenly ends in a socio drama reflecting the sad situation of the black community in Brooklyn. Everything seems to be a wasted effort -- there's just no conclusion.