Paid in Full

It is the mid-eighties in Harlem and Ace is working in a laundrette making honest (if small) money while his friend Mitch is rolling in the ill-gotten gains of street dealing. However a chance meeting with Lulu sees him entering the cocaine market, albeit with tentative steps. When Mitch gets sent to jail for a stint, Ace fills the local gap, underselling his competition and keeping everyone fed to avoid beef. With Mitch back on the streets with new friend Rico, Ace continues to rise within his community but still maintaining his lowkey and quiet personae. However coming to the top draws more attention while the loud and aggressive Rico contrasts with Ace's style and trouble is not far away.

It was the presence of Wood Harris that drew me to this film even if the hip hop stars in acting and producing roles did worry me that this was just going to be a basic modern blaxploitation movie that panders to the lowest common denominator to make cash. Based on a true story, it did offer me hope that it would be more than the usual rush to embrace lazy urban clichés and to a degree it does manage to sit above the usual standards of the genre. The connection in my head with The Wire probably didn't help because this is nowhere near the level that that series consistently operates at. Instead the narrative is fairly linear and straightforward but it is still interesting and well delivered.

I'm not sure if I was totally convinced by the character of Ace all the time but he did make for a good centre piece and the film is less moved by the events around him than it is by how he is within them. As such Harris is actually very good and never looks like he is about to fall into cliché or easy action. To a lesser extent Phifer does the same. He has less to work with for the majority of the time but one or two later scenes show how good an actor he can be. The same cannot be said of Cam'ron who plays the cliché throughout. He is effective at it but that doesn't mean I should praise him for ticking boxes with his screen time. McBride, Hall, Morales are reasonable but I do question the value (other than marketing) of cameos from Noreaga, Fresh, Dash, Simmons and others. Director Stone does an OK job but is greatly helped by the sense of period that the film consistently has thanks to the design of sets and costumes.

A solid narrative keeps it interesting, even if it is not really that surprising or clever. Of course compared to most hip hop films this is surprisingly good and it does benefit from being based on a true story and featuring good turns from Harris and, to a lesser extent, Phifer.

If I had realized that this was a gangster/hip-hop generation flick before I purchased it on pay-per-view, I would have never watched it. But I gave it a chance in an attempt to not waste my money. It was really well done. The acting was believable and in depth and the movie was superbly casted. It kept my attention, kept me involved and was narrated by a character that was likeable and credible. Well-done.

In the 80's, in Harlem, the simple Afro-American worker of a laundry, Ace (Wood Harris), is seduced by the easy money of his friend Mitch (Mekhi Phifer) and when Mitch is arrested, he becomes a drug lord. Later, he joins Mitch and his new-friend Rico (Cam'ron) as his right arms, ruling the neighborhood. His kingdom is destroyed one year later, after successive betrayals.

Based on a true story, I found the first part of "Paid in Full", showing the powerful and wealthy drug dealers' lifestyle, an apology to crime. However, the strong plot point really destroys this image, and shows how short are the empire and power of these nasty criminals. Most of their friends and women are bought by their money, and in the end they are only a part in the wheels of crime. Here in Brazil, we have the same situation in the slums: one day, a drug lord dies, on the next day there is another one in his spot. The cast has great performances and the direction of Charles Stone III is amazingly real. "Paid in Full" is highly recommended for fans of films of gangs. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Ouro Branco" ("White Gold")

Note: On 27 October 2022, I saw this film again.

I am glad that there is a movie based on the lives of legendary Harlem kingpins Alpo, AZ and Rich Porter coming out. I saw this movie and it really went back to the old school w/ music from Rakim("Paid In Full" which is the theme of the movie). It shows the ups and downs of the drug game and is focused mainly on AZ(David Sherwin(Wood) Harris). The surprise came from rapper Cam'ron as Alpo(but is called Rico). I don't want to give it away but for those people who checked the street documentary, "Game Over" would really understand this movie as well as those who knew AZ, Rich and Alpo personally and those who know the legacy of these hustlers.

It gets a 9 from me, I loved it

I was scanning through the channels one night and stopped on this film. Man, was I glad. It's nice to see the filmmakers trust the audience and their film by not cluttering up scenes with music. The silence was golden. Great direction, great acting and great music! I could tell this was based on a true story. It was so edgy and gritty it could not have been made up. The hardest part of making a true story work is keeping it real, they did that. I recognized all the actors, some one needs to hire Cam'ron he was great. I don't think you can compare this with New Jack City, I liked New Jack City but it was allot softer the Paid In Full. I could feel the tension in some of the scenes, it was powerful. I might buy this one.