Belly (1998)

Director:

Hype Williams

Writers:

Anthony Bodden (story) &
Nas (story) ...

Release Date:

4 November 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

A pair of vicious black gangsters have spiritual awakenings.

Plot Keywords:

Ghetto | Drugs | Neorealism | African American | Tragedy

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

DMX	...	Tommy 'Buns' Bundy
Nas	...	Sincere
Hassan Johnson	...	Mark
Taral Hicks	...	Kisha
Tionne 'T-Boz' Watkins	...	Tionne
Oliver 'Power' Grant	...	Knowledge (as Power)
Louie Rankin	...	Lennox
Stan Drayton	...	Wise (as Stanley Drayton)
James Parris	...	LaKid
Method Man	...	Shameek
Kurt Loder	...	Himself
Ben Chavis	...	Rev. Saviour (as Minister Benjamin F. Muhammed)
Tyrin Turner	...	Big
Jay Black	...	Black
John 'B.J.' Bryant	...	Thug #1

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, language, sexuality and drug use.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

Jamaica | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Germany:16 | South Korea:18 | Australia:MA | UK:18 | USA:R | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Jamaica

Company:

Big Dog Films

Trivia:

Shameek escapes a shootout with the police by getting in a car. The driver is his fellow Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah.

Quotes:

Tommy 'Buns' Bundy: There's mad money out here dawg, mad money out here. What you tryin' to get it?
LaKid: Word up
Tommy 'Buns' Bundy: You gonna bust you gun to get it?
LaKid: Tsh, whatever yo
Tommy 'Buns' Bundy: I hear you...

Movie Connections:

References The Godfather (1972)

Soundtrack:

Blue Agony

Derivative, but fantastic, see it

I really get p***ed off at movie critics sometimes. This is one of those times. I have insomnia, see what's on TV, check the rating (1 star out of 4) and almost pass it by, but decide to watch it for the camp value.

Why did critics hate this? Why do they in general hate movies like this? The film immediately reminded me of "The Harder They Come", "Pusher" (Nicolas Winding Refn's fantastic Danish film), "Laws of Gravity", "Kids", "Clerks", "Mean Streets", "Zebrahead", "The Killing of A Chinese Bookie", "Boogie Nights", "Rome, Open City" and "The Bicycle Thief". Why does it seem that film critics love neo-realism if its 'white', but usually hate it otherwise.

If you're a fan of these kinds of movies, give this one a chance. Unfortunately, with the unfavorable judgment from up on high that this film received, I doubt anyone will read these words. Darn critics. I don't usually insinuate things like this, but I have to wonder if a racial aspect is at play here, that maybe xenophobia deflected a lot of critics from giving this one a chance. Oh well, I loved it in any case.