Fresh: A Ghettoful of Dollars

  A 12 year-old heroin courier and speed-chess player decides to execute a vaguely chess-themed revenge plot against his bosses.

This movie deserves its cult following. It’s a crime thriller set in the ghetto that is not about rap music or gang-culture. In fact, don’t believe that there is a single rap song anywhere on the soundtrack. It’s not a retelling of Scarface, nor does it glorify violence. That said, it’s not the unique gem that its devotees claim it to be. It’s A Fistful of Dollars with a little kid instead of Clint Eastwood (the same device used here). The chess theme is just a MacGuffin-like gimmick to hold the story together. When it becomes clear what the little sociopath is up to, however, it’s difficult to not feel a little malicious glee.

• Things to note about Fresh that the cult won’t tell you:
  This is a black movie. I know you see Samuel L. Jackson on the back of the DVD and you may have already guessed this, but I mean this is a black movie. It makes the Madea movies look like Steel Magnolias. Unless you are familiar and comfortable with inner-city black American culture you will likely be perplexed and/or completely unable to relate to any of the characters. The sub-titles will likely not help you, either.
• It’s pretty gritty. Writer-director Boaz Yakin does not attempt to make this a pleasant film-going experience. This is not your faux grungy PG-13 ‘hood from Law and Order Episodes, this is the one where a writer goes out of his way to ram home how unpleasant the projects are in order to seem “authentic”. Note that several little kids get murdered in the course of the plot.
• This movie is dated. The slang, the clothes, the haircuts, all offer a pretty good picture of early 90s urban American fashion, but if you are not familiar with that generation you will need to pay close attention as you may be easily distracted by how goofy everybody looks.
• Samuel L. Jackson is a supporting character, not a lead. The fact that he appears on the DVD case is misleading, one of those marketing ploys to capitalize on fairly recent fame. He does a good job, and there is no question that his character is important, it’s just not a lead.

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