I really didn't know what to expect when some friends and I hired this DVD. Denzel Washington plays Rueben James, a retired English Paratrooper, returning home to the housing estate he grew up in as a child. Here he finds that not much has changed since he left about 10 years beforehand.
Many of Rueben's friends are still involved in 'less than legal' occupations, and the poverty and wretchedness of the estate seems even worse than when he lived there before. He needs to decide just where he fits in back home, and what direction his life will take. Despite trying to make a new life for himself, obstacles from past and present seem to always get in the way.
While I did find this movie slow paced, it captured the dismal feel of this community excellently. It also avoided using simplistic general stereotypes (for example, police are portrayed both in a very positive and very negative light).
I would recommend this movie if you're in the mood for a bit of gritty realism, but don't expect to feel particularly upbeat afterward!
Many of Rueben's friends are still involved in 'less than legal' occupations, and the poverty and wretchedness of the estate seems even worse than when he lived there before. He needs to decide just where he fits in back home, and what direction his life will take. Despite trying to make a new life for himself, obstacles from past and present seem to always get in the way.
While I did find this movie slow paced, it captured the dismal feel of this community excellently. It also avoided using simplistic general stereotypes (for example, police are portrayed both in a very positive and very negative light).
I would recommend this movie if you're in the mood for a bit of gritty realism, but don't expect to feel particularly upbeat afterward!