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With: Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Allen Payne, Chris Rock, Judd Nelson, Bill Cobbs, Bill Nunn, Mario Van Peebles, Michael Michele, Russell Wong, Bill Cobbs, Christopher Williams, Vanessa Estelle Williams, Tracy Camilla Johns, Anthony DeSando, Nick Ashford, Thalmus Rasulala, Phyllis Yvonne Stickney, John Aprea, Fab Five Freddy, Flavor Flav, Eek-A-Mouse, Keith Sweat
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Written by: Thomas Lee Wright, Barry Michael Cooper, based on a story by Thomas Lee Wright
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Directed by: Mario Van Peebles
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MPAA Rating: R for strong violence, drug content, sensuality and language
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Running Time: 97
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Date: 01/17/1991
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Crack Shot
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
Mario Van Peebles's feature directing debut came during a mini-renaissance of Black filmmaking, mostly inspired by Spike Lee. Yet New Jack City is steeped in Blaxploitation filmmaking, and is a good deal more stylish and more fun than, say, Boyz N the Hood, released the same year. Set during the (very real) crack epidemic that mostly affected Black folks, the film tells the story of Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes, ferocious), a drug dealer who sees no problem with taking on the dangerous and highly addictive new product. As he grows more and more powerful, rifts appear among his gang (Allen Payne, Bill Nunn, and others). Meanwhile, Detective Scotty Appleton (Ice-T) is determined to bring the criminals down. Chris Rock appears as a scared stool pigeon and thief, and Judd Nelson and Van Peebles play Scotty's fellow detectives. Tracy Camilla Johns, from Lee's debut film She's Gotta Have It, plays "Uniqua," the girl that tears apart Nino and his right-hand man "Gee Money." Ice-T performs the banger "New Jack Hustler," which plays during a frantic chase scene.
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