La Rue

A superior movie, except that the ending is completely contrived and unbelievable. Morgan Freeman generally gets the palm for his performance in "Street Smart" and deserves it for turning in a masterful performance. Called in to straighten out some difficulty between one of his girls and her trick, he calms everyone down, the soul of reason, until the trick is distracted, then Freeman kicks him in the family jewels and does a number of his face too. It's a shocking burst of violence. And his rattlesnake-like ability to strike quickly isn't limited to important economic confrontations either. During a basketball game, one of his shots is blocked. He shoves his opponent to the pavement, suggests that he'd look particularly good dead, then notices that everyone is standing around agape, smiles reassuringly, pats the guy on the shoulder and hands him a good deal of money to buy and bring back -- "Some chicken, ribs, stuff like that." He calls out, "Keep the change," to the grateful survivor of this encounter. All of Freeman's violence comes as a surprise, particularly when Chris Reeves tries to cool him down and Freeman whips around and holds a broken bottle before Reeves' face, with the steady, sure hand of a surgeon. Almost invariably, these episodes are followed by big friendly grins, pats on the back, assurances that things are back to normal, generous offers of food, drink, or money. The change takes place in less than a second.

Freeman is smarter than anyone else in the movie too. The main figure in a celebrated journalistic effort, he and his girl are invited to the publisher's party where everyone showers them with attention while they chat about "the Hamptons." Afterward, Punchy exults over the attention but Freeman sees through it all. He knows condescension when he sees it, and he is filled with resentment. Trying to put something over on Freeman is like trying to slip sunrise past a rooster.

But Kathy Baker as the used Punchy deserves credit as well, although her part isn't nearly as showy and dramatic as Freeman's. She's just beyond the bloom of youth, rather used looking and heavily made up, and her figure, while ripely pleasant wouldn't draw stares in a supermarket. She's very appealing indeed in her vulnerability and aloneness.

Chris Reeve is usually ignored in reviews. I don't know why. He's rarely anything but bland, but this is by far his best performance, and he invests his character with ambition, confusion, fear, and compassion -- not an easy role. The scene in the hotel bedroom with Kathy Baker, in which she seduces him knowing that behind that facade of journalistic objectivity lies a man who would just love to get it on with her, whether or not he realizes it. She demonstrates how she made it with her first john and makes Reeve play the partner. The silly made-up dialog fades and is replaced by "Natural Woman" on the sound track. The two have a relaxed, enjoyable-looking, mutually appreciative little love scene.

It's a pretty good movie and involves us emotionally in several different ways. Alas, as I say, the end is almost an embarrassment. The bumbling Reeve character turns into a genius, and other characters into the fools they never were. Don't let that stop you from watching this.

This film brought Morgan Freeman to my attention for the first time. After, I became a devoted fan. The "scissor scene" between he and Kathy Baker was absolutely chilling and a tribute to both actors. I was mesmerized. The love scene between Christopher Reeves and Baker was sensuality personified.

Morgan Freeman has a commanding presence and he does it with such little ease. Here is no different in a pimp role, as you could say outside the fittingly gritty and authentic urban location work that really puts you there. He is the best thing about this movie. Giving his character plenty of personality with weight, but an underlining edginess that sees him playing it rough when he "had" too. That's not taking anything away from the likes of Christopher Reeve, Kathy Baker and Mimi Rogers. Reeves is rather accomplished as the reporter who finds himself in a difficult position --- career and personal life, but his morals are really put to the test. The ladies are the ones who come off being the ones you care for. New York journalist Jonathan Fisher is not getting anywhere in his attempt to write an article on prostitution, so he writes a fictional expose on a pimp, that ends up seeing him gather numerous praise for its realism. However this fake piece seems to resemble that of a real life pimp; "Fast Black" who's on trail for murder. As things become unstuck, Fisher now finds himself caught in a dangerous predicament with the distract attorney on one side wanting these notes and Fast Black on the other trying to get him on his side by showing him in the real life of a pimp. How one little lie can escalate into something much more. This smoky dramatic thriller doesn't exploit the glamorous nature, but gets dirty as things spiral out of control and circumstances are manipulated to suit one's own favour. This leads to some dangerous consequences for both sides. The interplay between Freeman and Reeves' characters are always gripping and at times quite intense and spontaneous. The rigid narrative does have some questionable details, but remains digestible and cleverly explosive up until its sudden ending of street justice that the courts couldn't supply. Also memorable is the swaying jazz flavour to the music soundtrack and Baker as one of Fast Black's hookers. This enterprise was produced by Cannon.

"We don't like to lose."

Freeman gives his most powerful performance here. I've seen almost all of Morgan's films but I think this is his most outstanding performance. Fast Black is one juicy character and Morgan brings life into it. Christopher Reeve, god bless his sole, is a pretty bad actor. I only seen him in his Superman roles, which I wasn't much a fan of. But here his character gets a lot of screen time and Reeve just can't live up to it. He makes the movie boring. Kathy Baker excels in her role. Mimi Rogers does her part well. The film has an amazing storyline here, but screenplay is 50/50. If Morgan had more scenes the movie would have been way better. Yes there are some really strong scenes, but all of them involved Freeman. The direction wasn't great, if this movie was handled by a better director it would of been memorable. Many people probably don't even know about this movie and that's a shame because Freeman's performance must be watched. Freeman's outburst scene where he puts a bottle up to Reeve's face and gives him a 20 second stare is WOW. And not to forget the scissor scene where he threatens to poke Kathy's eye out...MARVELLOUS. What disappoints me the most, regardless of the many flaws in direction, is that Freeman didn't have a last scene in the climax. In a movie where Morgan kept everyone in their seats, the director/screenwriter didn't hook him up with a proper climax scene. I was expecting something huge, but instead the ending was the same old same old. Overall, the movie is OK, but Freeman's performance is great.

I just finished watching this film and I'm stunned...stunned. Morgan Freeman's performance was the best acting I have seen in a long time. The passion he put into his character was raw and powerful. It had me going "Wow." The movie was interesting- moments of tension. I did not think Christopher Reeve did a great job of his character- mediocre for cinema. He pulled it off well enough to get me into his character. Maybe his mediocre performance was who the character really was. There is no way of knowing the answer to this question. It could be either, or. Everyone you meet in the real world and in fantasy is not a dramatic, stunning personality. There wouldn't be any room for people's egos! Who says his performance was not true of the character. The character was who Reeve was.

The message of this film is very true. Don't lie. If you do make a mistake, if you lie, admit up front that you have. Otherwise, it's likely your lie will come back times 3. This is a lesson we should all have to learn one day. I hoped this review pleased someone. Take care and have a joyous and peaceful life. Good bye, Chauncey