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Yar, you be here: Sugar Hill > Customer Reviews Sugar Hill Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 8 Reviews)A little morbid, but...
I don't like sad movies, but I have to say that this movie is really good. The characters have depth and the storyline is intriguing. Wright steals the show
This is a very stylish movie that for what ever reason was swept under the radar. The real prize in this movie is Micheal Wright. This brother can act and its a damn shame that he doesnt have that generic Blair Underwood look because he should be getting better roles. If you don't believe me when I say he's got that DeNiro type range I suggest you check out the special features because I couldn't believe it was the same guy. He's way more educated than the roles I've seen him in like this and Oz. Reminds me of the movie Hollywood shuffle. Check the talent beacause its a real shame. Could've Been Better, But Still Great
From Covenant Avenue to St. Nick-Harlem, once the mecca that African-Americans lived, breathed and thrived in, has become a pocket of infestation, a neigh- borhood in hell, a timeshare in Vietnam. There's a war, children, a war of values, of ethics, of lives, of genera- tions and, ultimately, the spoils are simply blood, mate- rial goods and empty futures. Wesley Snipes stars in the new film Sugar Hill, which follows Roemello, a mid- level drug kingpin, through the course of what seems to be a week. Roemello is tired, but why he is exhausted is never made clear. The film, directed by Leon Ichaso, takes an unflinching look at both yesterday's addicts (Roemello's parents) and today's (Roemello's brother and partner Ray N athan) .The central theme is whether or not Roemello will choose the true love of his girl- friend Melissa, played with a defiant presence of char- acter by Theresa Randle, or his surrogate father Gus, mafia lord, supplier and the man who attempted to kill Roemello's now-decrepit father. A battle over territory ensues between Roemello and a competitor brought in by Gus. Roemello's father, played by Clarence Williams III (who will be overlooked for an Oscar due the film's release date), dealt drugs, supplied his wife's habit (which leads to her death) , and lives in a walking death of memories, regrets and heroin when the film opens. Ray Nathan, played by Michael Wright, is the clingy, needy older brother who relies on his Georgetown- educated brother to balance his street insanity with calculation and diplomacy. We then begin to see that all Roemello is, all he has trusted, has abandoned him. Seen this way we can finally understand why he's looking to distance himself from his past. But the past is a curious, vengeful, entangling animal tha t stalks all of Roemello' s attempts to leave behind a vicious life for...? Well, Roemello is never quite clear about where he'll go. Sugar Hill is not one film, but several, and not one story, but a legion of tales that fold into one another and entangle tentacles of power, greed, lust, loyalty and even family values. Two criticisms of this film are, one, Roemello's character is made peripheral to the business he actually controls. In a sense, we only see his hands dirtied twice by murder. One is understandable, though unjust, while the second is both unjust and inevitable. Roemello, for all that his character embodies as an anti- hero, becomes heroic as a drug dealer. His sense of honor, supposedly gained through experience, makes his moral caliber above those he deals with, and this is where the film falters. How can the audience relate to a good man who commits such a vile act as the extermi- nation of his own people, his own father through providing drugs? Is this a good man? Secondly, the film also falters in that we, the audience, see the shadowed results of murders-some not even shown. The audi- ence can't visually connect to the crimes of the film actually being committed by those we're supposed to feel something for. In fact, a split occurs between the good-bad guys and the bad-bad guys. Too many loop- holes of justification and reverse condemnation perme- ate the film. Are we, as an audience, so often spoon-fed pabulum entertainment that we can't handle a mature film where the characters redeem themselves not into angels, but at least into something better than what they were before? Do we need the hero going off into the sunset so badly that we're willing to justify murder, drug dealing and racial supplication just to feel good? Make no mistake, Sugar Hill, even with it's intermit- tently hard-soft hitting, is a film that needs to be seen, that needs to beunderstood, and whose complexity and shades of grey needs to be revealed and delved into. I highly recommend it and feel strongly about the film, but I do resent the soft-shoeing around the total impact that could have been made. It's rated R, we're all adults, so let's live in reality.
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