New Jack City (1991) Warner Bros./Action-Drama RT: 101 minutes Rated R (pervasive strong language and violence, nudity, sexual content/references, non-stop drug use, thematic elements) Director: Mario Van Peebles Screenplay: Thomas Lee Wright and Barry Michael Cooper Music: Vassal Benford and Michel Colombier Cinematography: Francis Kenny Release date: March 8, 1991 (US) Starring: Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Allen Payne, Chris Rock, Mario Van Peebles, Judd Nelson, Michael Michele, Vanessa Williams, Bill Nunn, Russell Wong, Bill Cobbs, Christopher Williams, Tracy Camilla Johns, Anthony DeSando, Nick Ashford, Phyllis Yvonne Stickney, Thalmus Rasulala, Fab 5 Freddy, Flavor Flav, Keith Sweat, Kelly Jo Minter, Tina Lifford, Leo O’Brien. Box Office: $47.6M (US)
Rating: ****
New Jack City made an immediate impact on audiences when it hit theaters in March ’91. Fights broke out in a few urban theaters during its opening weekend. I wasn’t aware of this when I went to see it on a Wednesday afternoon at a Center City theater. I couldn’t imagine why the security guard at the door wanted to search my backpack and pat me down before the usher took my ticket. When he told me about the violence of the previous weekend, I knew that New Jack City must be something special. The same thing happened with The Warriors in ‘79 and that movie is awesome!
New Jack City is both an intense kick-ass action flick and powerful anti-drug movie. Directed by Mario Van Peebles, everything comes together just right. It’s one of the best crime dramas of the 90s. The story opens in the mid-80s when crack cocaine first appeared on the drug scene. Urban gangster Nino Brown (Snipes, Passenger 57) sees a huge money-making opportunity and begins his rise to power in the New York City crime underworld. The new designer drug is brought to his attention by his best friend, second-in-command Gee Money (Payne, Jason’s Lyric). It doesn’t take long for Nino and his gang, the CMB (Cash Money Brothers), to become the biggest drug ring in the city. They kill off their major competitors and take over an entire apartment complex, turning it into a drug den.
Aware of the situation, the local police spring into action with a full-on investigation. Lt. Stone (Van Peebles) recruits a couple of maverick cops to gather information on Nino and his operation. Scotty Appleton (Ice-T, Law & Order: SVU), a cop with major attitude, is taken off suspension and paired with maverick cop Nick Peretti (Nelson, The Breakfast Club). Scotty recruits recovering crack addict Pookie (Rock, SNL) to go undercover inside CMB.
Meanwhile, Nino and his gang live the high life off other people’s misery. They make more money than most honest working people will ever see in their entire lives. It’s only a matter of time before their operation starts to crumble amid personal betrayals and interference from the Mafia who want a piece of the action. When the job proves too much for Pookie, Scotty takes over in the guise of drug dealer who wants to do business.
New Jack City contains many memorable scenes but the one that will most likely to stick out for many is the sequence inside the apartment complex taken over by Nino’s outfit. We get a first-hand look at the inner workings of their illegal business enterprise. It’s a powerful sequence that is both frightening and disturbing. The addicts sit around smoking crack (one woman brings her young child) or stagger around like violent, twitching zombies. It’s the stuff of nightmares. It’s an excellent contrast to the scenes depicting Nino’s glamorous lifestyle. He wears expensive clothes and lives in a lavish penthouse where he watches Scarface and Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song on an endless loop. He demands complete loyalty from his people. Their mantra is “Am I my brother’s keeper? Yes I am!” He’s also a vicious, vindictive type who responds violently to betrayal.
Snipes gives an outstanding performance as Nino, a gangster whose lifestyle is equal parts appealing and appalling. It takes a truly evil person to sell poisonous narcotics to his own people. Snipes captures it perfectly in his depiction of Nino. Ice-T, a rapper vocal about his anti-police views, is terrific as the tough street cop determined to put an end to Nino and the CMB. Casting him in this role is both brilliant and ironic. He’s like a hip-hip version of Dirty Harry with his dislike of authority. He even gets off a great Clint-worthy line when he holds somebody at gunpoint and says “I wanna shoot you so bad, my dick’s hard!” It’s an instant classic line!
Rock turns in an excellent dramatic performance as Pookie. At this point, he was best known as a SNL cast member. What he does here lends credence to the statement that comedians turn in the best dramatic performances. Payne is very good as Gee Money whose loyalty becomes questionable as he watches Scotty work his way into Nino’s confidence. Nelson, an actor I usually find annoying and obnoxious (From the Hip, anyone?), is even good here.
The only part I find hard to swallow is a late-game revelation about a previous connection between Nino and Scotty. I won’t give it away, of course. I’ll only say that it’s too much of a coincidence to be anything other than a convenient plot device.
The action scenes are pure dynamite! The violence is strong and bloody without seeming gratuitous. The streets of the ghetto are shown as a battlefield where gangs fight for control over a few square blocks. Van Peebles, in his first directorial effort, takes what could have been a routine urban cop flick to a whole new level. He gives the audience an objective view of the bleak lifestyle of the addicts providing funding for the gangsters’ lavish lifestyle.
One might be tempted to assume New Jack City glorifies the criminal lifestyle but nothing could be further from the truth. Sure, Nino has many material possessions (penthouse, clothing, expensive cars, etc.) but it all amounts to nothing in the end. It’s only fitting that Nino idolizes Tony Montana (aka Scarface) as many of that movie’s motifs are present here. His love of Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song is equally fitting as it’s directed by and stars Van Peebles’ father Melvin. The “hero” of the 1971 blaxploitation classic isn’t really a criminal; he’s just an unfortunate victim of circumstances that make him a police target. Nino claims the same thing.
Van Peebles makes great use of the locations in New York, contrasting the bleak with the beautiful. The soundtrack is pretty amazing; the songs augment the action on the screen. There’s a great medley of “Living for the City” (by Stevie Wonder) and “For the Love of Money” (by The O’Jays) in the neighborhood takeover sequence. The hip-hop music sets just the right tone for what is essentially a 90s update of 70s blaxploitation. This description isn’t meant to diminish the power of this movie; it’s merely meant to give the viewer an idea of what to expect. It’s exciting and entertaining while still coming out strongly against drugs and the dirtbags who sell them. It’s full of powerful scenes and images like the one of a community leader motivating the neighborhood children to lead a positive, drug-free life in a park that’s littered with empty crack vials. It perfectly underlines the central theme of New Jack City. It still packs a heavy punch nearly 30 years later even if some of it is noticeably dated- e.g. Color Me Badd on the soundtrack. It’s stylish, thrilling, tragic and never less than gripping. PLUS, you can’t beat that final scene. It still gives me a charge.
