New Jersey Drive

I swear I rarely hear this movie being talked about when mentioning some of the greatest hood movies of all time. I really enjoyed this movie. It talks about young kids being car thief's. It catches up to them as Jason Petty (Sharron Corley) and his friends all find themselves on the wrong side of the law and starts to get on dangerous path in their neighborhood. I'm not going to spoil the whole the movie for those who haven't seen it but this will be a fun movie for you to watch if you love hood movies.

Jason and Midget are two young, black teenagers living in Newark,New Jersey, the unofficial car theft capital of the world. Their favorite pastime is that of everybody in their neighborhood: stealing cars and joyriding. The trouble starts when they steal a police car and the cops launch a violent offensive that involves beating and even shooting suspects.

Mayor Sharpe James refused to allow filming of New Jersey Drive within the city limits; therefore, the filming locations were in the surrounding locations of Newark rather than the city itself. I am surprised they would turn down the shooting... but, hey, I guess if you're known for being a car theft city, you don't want to support that claim.

Some have called this the best "hood" movie. I don't know. I liked it, and thought it seemed fairly accurate to how I imagine life in the streets to be. But it lacked a solid plot or story arc, and I think it suffers from that. I do like how it has no real hero -- both the thieves and the police come off as less than perfect.

New Jersey Drive is one of the most true to life flicks about urban life ever made. Nick Gomez carefully winds his tale into car thieves almost into greek tradgy. In the lead role as Jason, Shannon Corley shows great leading staus. Jason is played as a chratcer who wants a better life but is caught up with the street life. Gaberial Cassius as Midget is almost believeable. If you haven't seen this flick you should. It also has a pulse pounding soundtrack.

This film is pretty good, it actually is like a good wine, it gets better the more you watch it. The pace is pretty slow for such a high octane topic, but the cinematography is beautiful and surreal. There is a cool blue tint that "rides" the whole film. There is also one great performance in Gabriel Casseus' performance of the character "Midget". He is terrific. Why doesn't this guy work more. If the film got better support, he probably would have.

I thought Nick Gomez's look at the gritty streets of New Jersey, where car-jackings are at an all-time high, was both thought-provoking and entertaining. This is just as good as movies like Boyz n the Hood or Menace II Society or Above the Rim. I thought the actors and the scenarios were suitable, it had a gritty realistic feel to it and was very atmospheric, whether on purpose or by raw coincidence. I liked this movie a lot, an underrated gem i found on TV and glad i caught it. Go watch this movie if you get a shot. If they don't have a DVD, they should release one. Well done Nick Gomez. IMDb Rating: 5.9. My Rating: 9/10