Hurricane

"Hurricane Streets" is all about Marcus (Sexton), a disaffected teen boy struggling to grow up in the mean streets of some waterfront hood in NYC. A slow starter with a weak story, this flick manages some par performances from a cadre of young actors as it dogs along, peaking late, and ending abruptly with an unsatisfactory resolution. "Hurricane Streets" is a mediocre cable watch at best which will leave you with the feeling you've seen it all somewhere else before. (C)

Some decent performances were dulled by characters that never developed and a story that never really went anywhere. A tame counterpart to Larry Clark's "Kids," we are taken into the tough inner-city streets and into the lives of a few of its teenage inhabitants. I couldn't get over the feeling that I knew these kids were acting, whereas in "Kids" the performances seemed shockingly real, like a documentary. Lacking on many counts, the movie never provoked much emotion and there seemed to be no closure to any of the characters nor did I care.

Morgan J. Freeman, perhaps our finest actor working today, gives us a pedestrian and uninspired film that includes most of the cliches of growing up in the lower class ghettos of a large city. While he draws good performances from his young actors, the story meanders and never goes anywhere, leaving the viewer wholly unsatisfied as the final credits roll when too many loose ends remain undeveloped.

I rented this one on a whim, and really enjoyed it. It's the first movie I've seen since Kids that gave a realistic portrayal of teenage life. All the actors are believable as 15-year-olds (I especially enjoyed Brendan Sexton and the girl who played Melena), and the dialogue was realistic. Up until very late in the film, all of the plot twists were things that could have happened in real life. Also, the film showed the downside of a life of crime without coming off as preachy. I'm looking forward to seeing more work from everyone involved in this film.

This is the first time that I have seen Brendan Sexton III on screen and I was really impressed. The movie does start a little slowly, but it is worth sticking with. It is more like a French movie than an American one something like 'Les Quatre Cents Coups', where the atmosphere is almost more important than the action. The leading actors are a gang of youngsters all of whom are very good in their roles. The hero reminds me of River Phoenix in 'Running on Empty.' I would recommend it.