Way Past Cool

When I was watching this movie, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. But, then they realized it wasn't my time and sent me back to my living room and made me watch this horrible movie to pay for my sins. Wow. After watching this movie I wished everyone in it would have died. In real life. This isn't the first gang movie i've seen with little kids, but c'mon, whole gangs with 8 year olds totin pistols? And the biggest baller is a 16-year old? And don't even get me started on the played out themes used over and over by these movie companies. Crooked cops, drive by's and all that good stuff.I mean, what was up with the little white kid actin' Jamaican? The bad acting at least was done by kids, so i guess that's a plus. Don't rent this movie unless your drunk and with a bunch of friends, or you might just want to kill yourself.

I wasn't sure what this movie was trying to be. It was pretty contrived and hokey, with a bunch of melodramatic dialog and unbelievable situations. Also it relied too much on kids doing dramatic roles (and providing narration) but that's just not enough to carry an R-rated adult film. Also the background music was out of place. It's supposed to be a gritty urban thing (I guess) but there's piano and acoustic guitar and some guy singing hokey ballads for much of it.

The rest of the technical elements were well done -- the cinematography, camera angles and everything -- but it just didn't click for me. I'd give it two out of five stars.

I picked this movie up as a pre-street at blockbuster where I work. This was coming out and so too was "Thirteen." Both seemed to be about the same thing, 13 yr olds in situations we aren't accustomed to seeing them in.

Two groups of Middle Schoolers, ages ranging from 9 to 13, are acting like they are stereotypical gangs: fighting each other over territory, drinking heavily, and all about guns. Of course, they don't think they are a gang when confronted by the authorities.

There is this Drug Dealer around the way, who is also a minor being 16 yrs old, that places a hit on both of the so-called gangs. He is a drop out from school and now bides his time dealing and such.

The movie progresses by telling through the eyes of "gang" and all the things that lead up to the finale.

The movie was nicely made, the acting seemed a little weak and the most of the movie seemed to unbelievable. It was a good watch to me, held my attention and almost made me weep at one scene.

I'd give it 6 of 10.

WAY PAST COOL (3 outta 5 stars)

I have mixed feelings about this movie. On the one hand it is an interesting story... with decent performances and it's certainly worth seeing. On the other hand, it is based on one of the most amazing books about contemporary "gang" life that I have ever read. So, what I like to pass on to anyone reading this review is: if you liked the movie at all... GO AND READ THE BOOK- IT WILL BLOW YOU AWAY! A lot of people seem not to like the movie because the main characters are all around 12 years old and some of their actions seem a little unbelievable. Well, part of the problem with this movie is that it can't really get into the characters of all of the the kids in only 90 minutes. On the plus side, most of the kids are pretty decent actors. (I think the little white Jamaican boy is a bit weak... but he's not THAT awful.) The kid playing Gordon is great... he's just the way I pictured him when I read the book. The older gangstas... Deek and Ty are pretty good actors, too. I'm not sure that the movie quite comes together as a whole... but it is well directed for the most part... with some really excellent scenes. (It might seem really hokey... but I really liked the scene with the rabbit in the hat near the end. Oh, and the scene where Markita takes Ty back to her place to see his son. And Ty's speech about his dad and the grape popsicles. Great stuff!) I wish I could be as excited about the movie as I was about the book (and practically every other book Jess Mowry has written)... but it's certainly an admirable effort anyway.

The movie obviously gets corny at times, and it's a little over the top, but the film had a lot of heart. The characters all remind me of kids I grew up with in the suburbs, but they go through things my friends and I didn't because of their circumstances. It must have sat on the shelf for awhile because it's definitely from the 90's, but IMDB says 2000. It's like a mix of Stand By Me (1986) and Boyz n the Hood (1991).