This 1991 crime-thriller/neo-noir film which starred Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Mario Van Peebles, Judd Nelson and Chris Rock marked a new era as it relates to African Americans. Snipes stars as Nino Brown, a rising drug dealer and crime lord in New York City during the crack epidemic. This is a role that Snipes truly put his heart and soul into, and it is evident when you watch the film. He would not just portray the stereotypical drug dealer, but a highly intelligent man who you can’t help but think what if used his intelligence to more productive pursuits. And on the flip side, this would be a major role for Ice-T, who plays a detective who vows to stop Nino’s criminal activity, this would just jump-start his career in the acting world.
This excellent screenplay was co-written by journalist-turned-screenwriter Barry Michael Cooper, who also scripted 1994′s Above The Rim, and Sugar Hill, which also starred Snipes. And interestingly enough, Cooper would be the first African-American screenwriter in history to not only have two films produced in one year–Sugar Hill was released on February 25th, 1994 by Beacon-20th Century Fox Pictures, and Above The Rim was released on March 23rd,1994, by New Line Cinema–but a month apart from each other.
The story revolved around the 20th anniversary of the 1967 riots in Detroit, and in its wake, the rise of crack cocaine gangs in the mid-to-late 1980s, like Young Boys Inc., and the Chambers Brothers. Some of the most memorable lines in the film were ad-libbed by the actors – especially Ice-T and Wesley Snipes – encouraged by director Van Peebles to improvise in a free-flowing naturalistic style.
It received a favorable reception by film critics for its cast, storyline and soundtrack. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three and a half stars of four, writing:
“Truffaut once said it was impossible to make an anti-war movie, because the war sequences would inevitably be exciting and get the audience involved on one side or the other. It is almost as difficult to make an anti-drug movie, since the lifestyle and money of the drug dealers looks like fun, at least until they’re killed. This movie pulls off that tricky achievement. Nino, who looks at the dead body of Scarface and laughs, does not get the last laugh.”
And not to forget it would do quite well as it pertains to the box-office numbers/dollars, considering it was produced on an estimated $8,000,000 budget. The film initially premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 17, 1991, before being released nationally on March 8, 1991; it grossed $7,039,622 during its opening weekend. It became the highest grossing independent film of 1992, grossing a total of $47,624,253 domestically.
Not only would the movie itself do well the but the soundtrack would be a hit on the market as well. There are several classic songs that come from this film that we are still jamming to today (“I’m Dreaming”, “For the Love of Money/Living for the City”). As a matter of fact the soundtrack reached #1 on Billboard’s “Top R&B Albums” chart, and #2 on “The Billboard 200.” To this day one can watch this movie and probably quote the movie word for word, and recite the soundtrack lyric by lyric.
This would be one of those movies that MUST go into your black classic’s collection. Although it does borrow from some previous gangster films, it still is able to hold its own. When it all boils down it is just as relevant today as it was back in 1991.
New Jack City (Theatrical Trailer)
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