Money Power Respect

I watch a lot of low budget indie films. Sometimes you see a film that despite its modest budget is able to tell a story and entertain. This film however is not one of them. The film suffers from terrible sound, bad photography and bad editing. The sound is so poor that about a third of the film is incomprehensible. Many films shot on DV can display an adequate image. This film has every scene shown with a very high noise level; even the daylight shots! On the commentary track the DP brags that the night scenes were shot without lights. Well that explains why the actors look like moving shadows. At night you at least need to back-light actors to differentiate them from the background.

A competent director can work around technical issues and concentrate on acting blocking and coverage. The director appears to have given no thought on blocking. There are several scenes, such as when Levi visits his mother and little brother, where the actors are standing in front of one another and you can't see who is even talking! The acting is poor across the board and the director has decided to place the camera in a single position for an entire scene.

I am a filmmaker and I see quite a few films and read reviews. I rented this film despite some of the comments made by others on this site. After viewing the film I wondered whether or not people rent movies so they can trash them to feel better about themselves.

Truthfulness is important in story telling and I think this film is on the mark in that regard. This was written by someone who is obviously familiar with the world he writes about. The same cannot be said for films that many of us pay to see at the theater. The actors were inexperienced as indicated by the director in the commentary. The cinematography was good although some people may question why it was not "covered" a little more but if you watch the director's interview you learn that the shooting budget was 10,000 and they did not have control of all locations. Solid debut. I look forward to seeing more from this director.

This movie was a great hood movie that started off slow, but then took you right in.The actors played their roles well and it made you feel like you knew them personally.My DVD of this movie is crystal clear and the audio is good it's not too low or jumpy, it's smooth all the way threw.Also the story line was great,I mean it's the story line of a lot of movies but so what every one has it's own unique turns and twist and that's what makes every movie different and when you live in that life like me or it's around you then you can really related and if you don't money power and respect will still grab you in and you will understand the life. Not only me but everybody that I let see the movie want's me to get them one and everybody in Detroit loves the movie,that's real so keep up the good work and Jamal if you make part two cause you can the way it ended let a sista know maybe you can give a fly chick a part in it. Keep shooting for the stars you'll make it

Michelle mcmurray

Oh yeah. It has bad actors, bad porn scenes, bad shoot ups, bad drug exchanges, bad everything. I don't know why I saw the whole thing, but I guess I needed to kill some time while cooking dinner. Either they're all crack heads trying to change course in life, or they're actors not worthy of they're titles. Drew is acting OK, but the main character should be expelled from further acting duty. The story is OK, but it seems like they have taken the common Italian Mob film, made a black ghetto version of it with minimized budget and low budget actors. I mean, even the "bling" looks cheap in this movie ! Naw, films like these just can't make it without Ice-T he he. Or, throw in Andre 3000 and make a decent comedy out of it, but please, don't do it like this. 'These clowns wouldn't last a day in Brandbergen', to quote a certain genius.

LOOKING FORWARD TO FUTURE PROJECTS FROM THIS WRITER/DIRECTOR!!!

I'm an AD, Camera Operator and Editor who has worked on many independent low budget productions from NYC to LA. Let me tell you, it is HARD to make things happen if you are just starting out! I was in Philly visiting a friend when I heard about the P.U.M.P. festival, where Money Power and Respect won Best Feature. I gotta say I was not looking forward to sitting through yet another low budget DV film. Generally speaking, the casts are amateur, the scripts are terrible and the shooting is really awful. They're often just made for a quick buck.

I saw Money Power and Respect and was very happy I stayed. It was not a 'ghetto mess' as I expected. What shines the brightest, I think, is the writing. The characters come across as real people, the young thugs on the rise to 'Scarface-esque' success have their own personalities and outlooks, rather than being one dimensional as they are in many low budget scripts. Also, hats off to the director, J. Hill, who wrote, directed, produced and co-starred as the sophisticated drug dealer Juan. It must have been a ridiculous challenge to wear all of those hats and get the project off the ground.

If you are a filmmaker or a writer who has dealt with the frustration of trying to make a SHORT FILM, let alone a FEATURE get off the ground in a minor city (i.e. not LA or NYC), you will appreciate this film.

Hell, you'll be inspired to write and locally produce your own scripts, or friends scripts -- because this film was made cheap and has been DISTRIBUTED in Best Buy and Tower and other outlets.

The bottom line is, before you can caught up in what the haters have to say -- keep a close eye on young talent like J. Hill. The buzz in Philly is that he has a new project with Lil Zane and Sundy Carter that will be coming out soon, and that will certainly catch the eye of other industry folks who will be looking to throw in some serious loot for future projects. In my experience, having seen many folks come and go, this is a solid debut from a writer/director who has a future in the business.

I'm rating this film 7 out of 10 NOT because I think it stands up next to big budget films that I think are 7s out of 10 (like Con Air, Fast and the Furious or, in a different genre, the recent The Breakup with Vince Vaughn) but because it is a very solid debut DV film that outshines many of it's competitors.