South Central (1992)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Stephen Milburn Anderson

Writers:

Stephen Milburn Anderson (writer)
Donald Bakeer (novel)

Release Date:

18 September 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

A child's chance to escape anger and injustice begins with one man...His father.

Plot:

A man is put to prison for 10 years. Coming out of prison he wants to live a normal life and stop with...

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Father | Ghetto | Murder | Burglary

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Glenn Plummer	...	Bobby
Byron Minns	...	Ray Ray
Lexie Bigham	...	Bear (as Lexie D. Bigham)
Vincent Craig Dupree	...	Loco
LaRita Shelby	...	Carole
Kevin Best	...	Genie Lamp
Big Daddy Wayne	...	Henchman (as 'Big Daddy' Wayne)
Allan Hatcher	...	Baby Jimmie
Alvin Hatcher	...	Baby Jimmie
Baldwin C. Sykes	...	Ken Dog
Rana Mack	...	Girl in Club
Diane Manzo	...	Undercover Cop
Sal Landi	...	Detective
Christian Coleman	...	Jimmie
Leonard Boyles	...	Termite

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Spain:13 | UK:15 (video rating) (cut) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Enchantment Films Inc.

Quotes:

Ali: We all know Bobby here a man. He a man, so nobody punking nobody here. Am I right, Buddha? Buddha, do you, or do you not recognize this is a man standing here?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Sexual Healing

The film is "serious" and well intentioned, telling a heart-breaking story with a valid message.

Though the film is "serious" and well intentioned, telling a heart-breaking story with a valid message, its impact is considerably weakened by a naïve story-line and a undistinguished screen-play. I hunted around to see if this was "based on a true story", like "The Birdman of Alcatraz", but I found no evidence; that might have excused some of the awkwardness. There are some movingly warm scenes, though I was never groping for a kleenex. It reminded me of one of those Worthy Westerns I watched as a kid, where the bad guy meets a good guy/woman who changes his life: it had too many predictable and not totally credible steps. When, at the end, the hoodlum about to shoot him says, "Prison sure turned you stoopid!", I was inclined to agree. He talked his way out of the jam, but only because the narrative demanded it: his speech would never have convinced me, any more than Eli's words in the prison cell would have made me turn over a new leaf. These key "speeches" lacked any eloquence, and I frequently found myself predicting the dialogue. Nevertheless its best moments, especially the confrontations, are really gripping - until the end, that is, when it's too easy to foresee that no harm will come to anyone and Good will prevail. It's unfashionable and courageous to give such a story a happy ending (cf. "La Haine", where the vicious circle of hate is NOT broken and a bleak future is foreseen), and perhaps its optimism speaks more deeply to audiences in the States.