Why so much hype?

The Age of Commercialism

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I had seen this movie in passing at first, not knowing the name of the movie but with a bit of research I ended up watching the movie in it's entirety on HBO. This was one of my favorite performances by Laurence Fishburne because he had his moments where it felt this was based on a true story. This wasn't a typical story of tragedy, in fact at times his decisions were impossible to be the right ones, but it's a dark side of what some people live with and the circumstances that few people can deal with.The quality wasn't the best, this was obviously a low budget film that never graced the silver screen. There are several forgettable moments in the movie, while others were done exceptionally well. This story isn't one based on great morals, most of the time it was about getting away or having to accept facts or use violence to make things better.My favorite scenes were of Laurence Fishburne's character Socrates being a felon who was doing what it takes to make a living, and the harsh reality it is for people who have served time in prison. The parts where he recycled to make money, getting paid in change, dealing with places who refused to hire him, being haunted by his past kept me captivated in what will happen next. They were in a bad neighborhood and tried to make it better, having to swallow your pride at times but they still managed to see a tomorrow.While there are several flaws with the teenager he decided to look after and basically mentor, it showed a side of Socrates as a man who was very flawed but still able to teach him to stand up for himself and make better decisions. The teenager could have been written much better but it made Socrates much more fragile at times and shed light on a softer side where he was out to help others. In the end, I didn't agree that he made the youngster run away from his problems, but it was a better decision and gave closure to his scenario.For some reason the table being restore was a failed attempt at a metaphor to me, but it was obvious that they had it in the movie as an excuse to eliminate the other love interest and teenager. His love interest with the lady in the restaurant was done fairly well, for the most part, but it worked. Those were some of the better scenes in the movie because he wasn't a romantic guy, he was struggling to find work but had too much pride to start a relationship despite the woman making it clear she was interested in him regardless of his situation.The crackhead part was great, there are some moments where Socrates almost looked like a superhero by disarming teenagers and being fearless in heated situations, but I really liked how he scared the crackhead away. That seems to be the thing I liked about his character, and the same goes with him refusing to buy a gun so his friend could shoot himself after the suffering of being terminally ill. Those parts felt authentic at times, there are moments where you often question if you would make the same decisions, even when some of the characters think the best decision would be to murder someone.I don't know if I liked the ending, I say this based on how I can't think of another way it should have ended. I was disturbed originally but it seems like it was a story written by the narrator, which makes it more flawed, it gives me the impression that the script was rushed and re-written during production. Then again this was a movie never intended to have a theatrical release.When all is said and done, I still think it had some amazing moments and Laurence Fishburne's performance was great. This movie wasn't afraid to address the harsh reality of a tough neighborhood and how the people who deal with poverty get treated. If they polished up the script more, spent more time on production and maybe replaced a few of the actors it would have been a huge hit.

I saw this film on HBO and was blown away by both the story and the acting by Lawrence Fishburne. This film is very unusual for America, in my opinion, in that it does not emphasize gratuitous violence, sex, and all the other "fast food" components of many of Hollywood blockbusters. Instead, it focuses on the individual and how that individual deals with life's real problems. It is about taking responsibility for one's actions, making the best of one has, redemption, friendship, love, being genuine and humane, doing the best that you can even when the odds are not tipped in your favor. It is not necessarily a better film than the blockbusters: it is a different film - it is good for the soul. I think it makes you a little bit better person after you see it and give it some thought. Just my .02.

I won't go into details of the storyline, as you can read that from other reviews. I will say that this is one of the best dramatic films I've seen that most haven't even heard of. It is a very moving story with many underlying plots that come together well and each stand out to be noticed. The acting was Grade A from everyone casted, the messages (and there were many) are relevant and stirring, and there just aren't enough good things to say about this film. I think that Larry Fishburne is one of our better black actors, I believe better than Denzel based on the variety of characters that Fishburne has played over the years, and this may have been his best work. His character and his acting is that strong in this film. If you've seen the movie "Pitch Black" with Vin Diesel (now that they've made a sequel 4 years later), you know that it was a slow, kind of boring movie, but Vin played his character Riddick with such coolness that his role made the flick. Fishburne does the same outstanding performance, but unlike Pitch Black, everything else about Outnumbered was strong in supporting the lead character. An excellent film that I would highly recommend.

Via this finely crafted and deeply thoughtful 1998 film, Michael Apted directed our consciousness towards more than one of our society's trash heaps. With it now being 2004, I do not see any change. Laurence Fishburne's character, Socrates, still deftly provides us with poignant details about *our* needs. And so Apted's metaphorical deaths (and the wasted physical death, which is finely portrayed by Bill Cobb's character, Right Burke) must *again* make us face our society's problems. Some may callously claim that everyone (in some way) must kill themselves for a society (and thus "many must suffer"), but this film (and our current society) is their glass house. All three men (and no less importantly, the rest of the cast) should be very proud of this current, relevant work.