Thriller

Crime

Drama

New Jack City

Jacmac Films

Jackson-McHenry Entertainment

Warner Bros. Pictures

United States of America

English

Wesley Snipes

Ice-T

Allen Payne

Chris Rock

Mario Van Peebles

Michael Michele

Bill Nunn

Russell Wong

Bill Cobbs

Christopher Williams

Judd Nelson

Vanessa Williams

Tracy Camilla Johns

Anthony DeSando

Nick Ashford

Phyllis Yvonne Stickney

Thalmus Rasulala

John Aprea

Fab 5 Freddy

Flavor Flav

Clebert Ford

Laverne Hart

Eek-A-Mouse

Gregg Smrz

Erica McFarquhar

Keith Sweat

Bret McCormick

Marcella Lowery

Manuel E. Santiago

Ben Gotlieb

Thelma Louise Carter

Linda Froehlich

Christopher Michael

Kelly Jo Minter

Tina Lifford

Erik Kilpatrick

Ron Millkie

Harold Baines

Sekou Campbell

Garvin Holder

Teddy Riley

Aaron Hall

Damion Hall

Rodney Benford

John Harrell

Gerald Levert

Sean Levert

Jimmy Cummings

Akosua Busia

Lia Chang

Jake LaMotta

Larry M. Cherry

Cynthia Elane

Toni Ann Johnson

Candece Tarpley

Chris Thornton

Thomas Lee Wright

Doug McHenry

Charles C. Bennett

Barry Michael Cooper

Francis Kenny

Pat Golden

John McCabe

Steven Kemper

Preston L. Holmes

Bernard Johnson

Michel Colombier

George Jackson

Suzanne Broderick

James Bigwood

Dwight Williams

Jery Hewitt

Danny Aiello III

G.A. Aguilar

Joseph Ray

Brent Owens

Kevin Stitt

John Newby

Gregory Irwin

Myra-Lee Cohen

Ed Hershberger

Ted Churchill

Frank Stettner

Keith Gardner

Rosa Howell-Thornhill

Barbra Matis

Laura Brock

Roberta J. Holinko

Elaine O'Donnell

Cornelia 'Nini' Rogan

Diane Hammond

Ellie Winslow

Aaron F. Quarles

Barbara Hause

Jane E. Myers

Jill E. Anderson

Charles Houston

Martin Andrews

Val DeSalvo

Robert M. Andres

Paul Wachter

Tom Kudlek

Octavio Molina

Laura Jean West

Kevin Ladson

Jeffrey L. Glave

Raymond M. Samitz

Steve Kirshoff

Will Caban

Jeff Lengyel

Jacek Laskus

Ed Dessisso

Jeff Gullo

Wade Bartlett

Mike Le Mare

Robert G. Henderson

Alan Robert Murray

Karola Storr

Robert Fitzgerald

Robert L. Sephton

Bub Asman

Jayme S. Parker

Terry Burke

Darrin Martin

Rachel Shaw

Janelle Showalter

Brooke Henderson Ward

Carl Zittrer

Lise Richardson

Patrick Cyccone Jr.

Dan Wallin

Robert Thirlwell

Robert Deschaine

Joel David Warren

Lillian Pyles

Parnes Cartwright

Marlene Arvan

Max Van Peebles

Douy Swofford

Bill Anagnos

David S. Lomax

Lance Guecia

Don Hewitt Sr.

Jalil Jay Lynch

Paul Bucossi

Harry Madsen

Darrell Carey

New Jack City is convoluted, contrived, and heavy-handed, ending with a caption warning us to “confront the [drug] problem realistically, without empty slogans and promises”. Well, the characters in the movie certainly eschew empty slogans in favor of some of the most memorable catchphrases ever committed to film (“Sit your five-dollar ass down before I make change,” “I want to shoot you so bad, my d*ck's hard,” etc., etc.), but it might be a bit of a stretch to say that they deal with the problem realistically – and it’s actually the little things, such as our old friend the Red Digital Readout, that cast doubt over the proceedings; conversely, the elephant in the room – i.e., the taking over and conversion into a huge crack house of an entire apartment complex – is based on fact (the hardest things to believe are sometimes the most veridical; compare the upside down-flying commercial airplane in Flight).

The script is sometimes platitudinous, sometimes downright nonsensical, but always, as I hinted above, endlessly entertaining and quotable. Similarly, the plot and is underdeveloped but not shallow, and the film overall has its heart in the right place.

This is a vibrant movie, but it's not just for people who like bright colors; NJC knows the importance of looking beyond appearances. A scene of revelatory intertextuality has the antagonists watching Scarface and reaching the conclusion that the only thing Tony Montana ever did wrong was getting “careless.”

And yet, this eye-opening irony is inexplicably lost on rappers like Lil Wayne and Tyga (both of whom have referred to themselves as ‘Young Nino’; don't they remember or care that Nino Brown at one point literally uses a little girl as a human shield?), making them twice as dumb as the people who watch Scarface and leave with the impression that Tony Montana is a role model.

All things considered, NJC is a rather uneven effort whose weaker moments get by on sheer style, reaching a noirish state where what is said and done takes a backseat to how it is said and how it is done – and in that sense Wesley Snipes’s star-making performance (and what should have been a breakthrough role for Chris Rock), supported by a rock-solid (as well as eclectic, ranging from Judd Nelson to Bill Cobbs, who even then was playing the Old Man) ensemble cast and Mario Van Peebles's confident direction, is the glue that holds the film together.

Best Movies

New Jack City

Cast & Crew

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Cast

Wesley Snipes

Ice-T

Allen Payne

Chris Rock

Mario Van Peebles

Michael Michele

Bill Nunn

Russell Wong

Bill Cobbs

Christopher Williams

Box office

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