Pretty Good

A different way of telling a story

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Not only was this movie really entertaining, but it was a raw story of how some new york teens go about wanting and having respect. It also shows how friends can backstab each other, which not only happens in new york, but happens everywhere. I could definitely relate to being from NYC. Such a good movie, I definitely recommend watching this movie.

In the wake of the release of the 2017 Tupac Shakur biopic, "All Eyes on Me", a lot of interest has been drawn to the obscure but underrated 1992 film "Juice". In this film, Tupac debuts in his one and only acting role because his life is tragically taken less than 5 years after the film's release in 1996 at the young age of 25. To his credit, Tupac portrays a struggling Harlem vagrant splendidly. Almost like a professional actor. His performance was eons better than most rapper-turned-actor's attempts at professional acting. It's a shame that this was his only role. In this film, Tupac plays Bishop, a rough street kid who feels like he has something to prove. In the opening scene of the film, a group of Puerto Rican gang members approach Bishop and confront him by asking him, "you got that much juice?" He responds with a sly, "you god damn right. Nobody **** with me". This sets the tone for the rest of the film. Bishop and his three friends Q, Raheem, and Steel grow up together in Harlem and drop out of school to engage in criminal behavior. The most remarkable thing about "Juice" is the character detail. All of the characters are accurate and lively portrayals of Harlem youth in the early 90's. The four youngsters engage in a multitude of criminal behavior ranging from robbing record stores by flirting with the female cashiers to scaring joggers at New York's public parks. The four main characters are clearly up to no good. But Q is the character who is most unsure of how deep he wants to be involved in the life of crime. Bishop and Raheem pursue the lifestyle willingly despite Raheem being the father of a young baby. Bishop on the other hand is not content to taking the straight and narrow path. In one scene, Bishop explains his philosophy to Q by explaining to him, "you gotta snap some collars and let them **********ers know you there to take them out anytime you feel like it. You gotta get the ground beneath your feet partner. Get the wind behind your back and go out in a blaze if you got to. Otherwise you ain't ****. You might as well be dead yo damn self". Compared to Bishop and Raheem, Steel and Q are a bit more geared towards the straight and narrow. However, the option to walk down the clean road is eliminated after one fateful night when the four African American youth from Harlem decide to rob a convenience store owned by an elderly Puerto Rican man who goes by the name of Fernando Quiles. Q initially wants to avoid participating in the robbery. He wants to go to a DJ competition instead. His three friends agree to let him go to the DJ competition, but only in the hopes that it will give them an alibi for their robbery. The DJ battle scene that ensues is central to the plot. It probably inspired the iconic rap battle in Eminem's "8 Mile" that is released a decade later in 2002. The most powerful moment in the film happens after the DJ competition ends when Q joins his crew to go out and rob a convenience store. In the subsequent tragic series of events, one of the four youngsters shoots the convenience store clerk in the back of his head right before everybody was about to leave. It is later revealed that the masked shooter was Bishop. Raheem confronts Bishop for shooting the clerk, and Raheem himself gets shot by Bishop. Bishop is clearly past the point of no return and Q witnesses Bishop attend Raheem's funeral. He sees Bishop talk to Raheem's sister and mother and sees the single mother and baby that Raheem's death left behind. To add insult to injury, Q also loses the DJ competition that he was attending the night of the robbery by default and is frustrated with his consolation prize of a Panasonic boom box. Bishop, Q, and Steel are clearly no longer friends. But there friendship turns dangerous when Bishop confronts Q at their high school and tells his former friend, "You know what? Last time you said that, I was kinda trippin', right? But now, you're right. I am crazy. And you know what else? I don't give a ****. I don't give a **** about you. I don't give a **** about Steel. I don't give a **** about Raheem, either. I don't give a **** about myself. Look, I ain't ****. And you less of a man than me, so as soon as I figure you ain't gon be ****, *pow*! So be it. You remember that, mother*. 'Cause I'm the one you need to be looking out for... *partner*!". After this tense exchange, Bishop ends up killing Steel which sets the stage for the final confrontation between Bishop and Q. The final moments of the film is a struggle between the two former friends which culminates tragically. It is a fitting homage and portrayal of a street vagrant's life in Harlem during the early 90's.

I hate rap, hip/hop, pop, techno, dubstep...but Juice is set during the days when rap was taking off and there was actually some technique used and talent behind it. So this is one of the few cases where I did not mind there being rap music. 2Pac is one of the few rappers I like and he sets the screen ablaze. Juice follows four teenagers from Harlem: Q, Bishop, Raheem and Steel (Epps, Shakur, Kain, Hopkins) who try to get power and respect they call "juice." Q follows his dreams of becoming a successful scratch-n-mix deejay and deals with his love life, while Bishop tries more violent activities that break his friends and the streets where they live. After a heist gone wrong, Bishop slowly grows into an out of control madman. Epps as Q and 2Pac as Bishop are the main characters that were fantastic. Both are developed and carried out so well, both were Oscar-worthy. Especially 2Pac, whose portrayal of an inner-city psychopath was so original and so convincing, he really deserved an Oscar win for Best Supporting Actor. It is one of the best acting performances I have ever seen. What I really like about this is that it is purely character driven. Those are the best movies to watch and the best things to read. In fact, this is almost Shakespearean-like. I could see making Juice into a Shakespearean play, with enough modifications to make it seem more sophisticated and complex.

Juice is a film about 4 friends growing up in Harlem, it tells the story of how far you will go to get respect and how possessive the need to be respected can be. I enjoyed this movie, a good solid hood film. The acting is superb, especially from Tupac and Epps. Really strong leading performances. The transformation of Bishop from the start to the end is played out perfectly by Tupac.The movie has a great urban old school feel with a belting hip hop sound track. It's funny, tense, emotional and gritty. Watch this if you are into this type of genre, even if your not, its definitely worth a watch.