Before I Self Destruct

Aspiring basketball player Clarence suffers an injury that puts paid to any hopes of sporting fame . Taking a dead end job in a grocery store he finds that living in the ghetto involves survival of the fittest and finds himself being dragged in to a life of crime

I've got to confess here and now that I am not a rap fan . Most of my music collection is dominated by Celtic artists like U2 , Simple Minds and The Beta Band so I came in to BEFORE I SELF DESTRUICT with the view of watching it as a film in its own right rather than as some star vehicle for 50 Cent . The fact that the credits read that it's produced , written and directed by Curtis Jackson , the real name of 50 Cent perhaps tells you something

The story starts with setting up the backstory of the home life and family background of Clarence who is brought up by his single mother and has an academically gifted 13 year old brother . Right away I thought I'd be watching a subtle feel good cinema verite style movie where Clarence becomes a role model to his brother while struggling against a brutal environment and what the film does very well for the first third is portraying the American inner city as a bleak nihilistic place without over doing it

Then unfortunately the film blows it by having an inciting incident that takes the film in a new direction . This incident isn't exactly unexpected or shocking but it means Clarence starts becoming an entirely different character to the one we were introduced to at the start of the film and as you might expect the soundtrack becomes more prominent as if the film is trying to sell some tracks by 50 Cent . The ending is also so abrupt you'd think Jackson ran out of money before shooting was completed

There's also an aspect that's already been mentioned on this page and that is the acting is rather poor . There's different kinds of poor acting in cinema . Loud OTT acting personified by the ham acting of Steven Berkoff and the opposite type of bad acting seen here - wooden acting . It's not so bad in the early stages of the film because you can get away with it in a realist drama to a small extent and claim it's naturalistic but when the film becomes more plot driven it becomes more noticeable and annoying , but I guess if you're trying to sell records then Jackson wasn't concerned too much about the cast

I am very proud of 50 cent. I found his acting to have improved greatly. I also found for this to be his first directorial film he did an excellent job in directing it. i love the idea of him bringing in new fresh faces in the movie. I felt these actors did a great job. i was impressed. the story line was great. i am patiently waiting for him to direct another movie. I find this movie to be realistic and many people will identify with the story line. It showed the struggles one has to go through in order to try to make it. It also showed sadness and sorrow.

i highly recommend this movie to all to see.

This movie is a great hood classic. It follows in the line of I'm bout it, and other hood tales. 50 cent and Clifton Powell on screen interaction was pure magic. The young man that played Chaka was talented as well. The movie was funny, heartfelt and painful all at the same time. My favorite line is "the insurance business." 50 cent is definitely a visionary and very talented businessman. This movie is a must see!! 4 stars out of 4!!!! The accompanying album is a masterpiece as well. To all the 50 cent haters, go get a job and/or a life because this movie is the truth. Support hood films and quit hating. The latino girlfriend with the face of an angel and the heart of snake was simply terrifying. Please 50 make a sequel. You are the next Rudy Ray Moore!

This isn't the worst movie ever, nor is it as bad as I thought it would be. But it defiantly could have been better. One major problem with the movie is that it's to short and doesn't really have much going on. There's very little character development and for movie that's supposed to be a hood movie there's very little action. At times the movie just feels boring and to keep you entertained they either play loud rap music or have a sexual scene. If anything, the only reason this movie even seemed to receive any attention was because it stars 50 Cent and features a sex scene with some eye candy actress to turn on the fanboys. The movie just feels like one long video of 50 Cent showing how ''gangsta'' he is. And the ending to the movie feels very rushed and anti-climactic.

I watch this film last night and i was like,WoW,i did not move from the chair till it was all over,it was deep,original,and well done,great acting,just shows you how life is really like in the hood,i can relate to this situation,cause i'm from the hood,not to far from were this took place,from Newark,n.j so stuff like this really happens,he really took this film to another level,and i think this is a stepping stone,for what is yet to come in the future,he is more focus,and his acting has hit another its peak,the man can act,there is no doubt about that,well done Curtis aka 50 cent,i hope there is a sequel to this one,in (Newark)