3 Strikes

This movie was a lot of fun. However, if you are one of the tight assed people who think you should take this movie serious like you are about to watch "Gone with the Wind" you are sadly mistaken. Faizon Love and David Alan Grier are great. Particularly David Alan Grier's "look out he's got a gun" line. It is a very low budget comedy by a first time director. Also the great newscaster Jerry Dunphy has a cameo.

This movie is hilarious! Every time I see it playing on television, I have to watch it till the end. Its packed with an all-star line up of black comedians.

I just read the comment posted before mine, and I strongly disagree. It is an unfair assessment of this movie. Now you do have your occasional flops of 'hip-hop' movies, but this isn't one of them.

I think Brian Hooks could have been the next Martin Lawerence. I compare his comedy in this movie to him, David Alan Grier, Tommy Davidson. It has a lot of one liner humor, "Gotta have that Yac before I break yo' back"...and especially coming out of Rob's (the main character) father. Referring to Rob to 'having a dream' like Martin Luther King and telling him not to come back home and join the Salvation Army just cracked me up.

If you liked this I recommend the movie Trippin', which was also real funny.

I first watched this movie after it was released. I thought it was hilarious from the start & well thought out. If you enjoyed Friday, Next Friday or Friday After Next, you will love this movie. You have to have an open mind to watch this movie, as it is full of coarse language, drug use & sexual innuendos. Heaps of good r&b music to add to the overall feel of the movie. Brian Hooks stars as the hapless ex-con who is trying to make a clean break & avoid going to jail for life if he gets another strike, i.e. 3 strikes. He doesn't try too hard to stay out of trouble as it seems to find him at every turn & with the so-called friends he has, they will surely help him back to jail quickly. A few cameo appearances by famous actors such as Monique, hilarious as usual,George Wallace & Antonio Fargas. Overall the movie is a riot & the out-takes at the end are as funny as the movie. It was made to poke fun at the '3 strikes' ruling, so sit back & enjoy.

Luckilly this one was viewed for free because man did it ever strike out.

There is nothing new here, the movie is poorly written and has nobody to root for.

There are some funny parts, but they are very few and far between and are all done better in Friday.

The acting is mediocre and does not make the movie a must see. Acting is done much better in Love & Basketball.

In all, one the worst of 2000. While the movie was profitable, the budget was relatively miniscle.

Stay away from the strikes unless absolutely necessary, it almost asurredly will disappoint.

Rating: 2

Viewed: in theatre (Scope)

3 Strikes is a flick that had potential in terms of its main theme. But it sank into very low humor very quickly. There were aspects of 3 Strikes that merited further exploration...how the law affects families, and how many Blacks and other people of color are sent upstream disproportionately and unfairly. It was an opportunity to make a serious statement...and the opportunity was wasted. The trials and tribulations of one potential victim cannot speak for the whole. And...there is nothing funny about getting a third strike. It's the gateway to a life of hell...endless incarceration. This was a chance to "scare straight" some younger folks who might have been headed to the prison farm. Instead, the movie delivers a strictly ghetto-ish and highly comedic message that falls flat. Nothing is wrong with ghetto humor, but in this instance it was not used to full effect. The acting and the script could have been much tighter. I really wanted to like this movie...but around halfway through I was wishing it was over, and was somewhat ashamed to see some fine black talent nearly reduced to Minstrel show status...and there was no clear IN YOUR FACE message to stay out of jail and to stay away from the situations that can result in one...two...or three strikes. I hope someone picks up on the subject again and puts it in a somewhat more focused perspective.