“Am I my brother’s keeper?”
New Jack City fares a lot better as a high-octane drug war action movie than it does as an anti-drug commercial. Unfortunately it strives to be both of these things at the same time and doesn’t quite excel at either. Directed by Mario Van Peebles in his feature debut, the film struggles to reconcile the clunky melodramatics of its cop vs. kingpin storyline with its blunt social message, and ultimately settles into a cartoonish, blaxploitation rendition of Scarface.
Scarface is unquestionably the correct touchstone—not only did it obviously influence Van Peebles (and writers Thomas Lee Wright and Barry Michael Cooper) in terms of character arc and subject matter, but it’s literally the villain’s favorite movie. At least twice, Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes) can be found in his private flat, tuned into the De Palma film and mentally cataloging the character’s triumphs and missteps, vowing to avoid Tony Montana’s mistakes.
A ruthless man, Nino is the type of psychotic that comes with a certain amount of charisma. He can easily present himself as respectable in social settings, and keeps up a false public image by hosting weddings, handing out Thanksgiving turkeys to the poor, that sort of thing. But that’s all for show; the real Nino is a merciless villain who will drop clumsy bagmen off of bridges to teach others a lesson and commandeer a Harlem apartment complex by forcing the landlord out onto the street in the nude. With Nino as its focal point, the film traces the rise of his gang, the Cash Money Brothers, over the course of several years as they introduce crack cocaine to the streets of NYC and become the dominant drug ring in the area.
Meanwhile, on the law enforcement side of things, contentious pair Appleton (Ice-T) and Peretti (Judd Nelson) are sent out by Detective Stone (Van Peebles) to take down Nino’s gang. Initially, Appleton enlists the help of former crackhead Pookie (Chris Rock), whom he scoops off the streets and sends to rehab before guiding his drug ring infiltration. But when Pookie relapses and gets caught and killed, Appleton takes it upon himself to make inroads with Nino, seeking to gain his trust, collect evidence, and bury him for life.
There are a few other subplots and minor characters mixed in: Allen Payne as Nino’s right hand man who wants to be top dog; Bill Nunn as his stuttering bodyguard; Michael Michelle as his girlfriend; Tracy Camilla Johns as a loose woman who floats between the men; Vanessa Estelle Williams as a gun moll; Russell Wong as a police agent; Bill Cobbs as an outraged community member; Anthony DeSando as an Italian mobster; Flavor Flav as a DJ. All of these characters are given enough things to do to justify their inclusion, but by and large the story is simple and derivative, its drama frequently undercut by its abbreviations. It also suffers from a lopsidedness that arises from Snipes’ captivating screen presence and the lengthy stretches where he’s offscreen.
While the weak narrative and outlandish presentation shortchange the film’s ham-fisted message, there’s a certain fluidity to the film that stems from Van Peebles visual style and renders New Jack City eminently watchable. Notice the way he shoots the early confrontation between Appleton and Pookie, with the frame jumping between their shoes, their pockets, their hands, the lenses of their sunglasses, etc. Or the splendid opening credits sequence that overlays a classic hip-hop jam with the chatter of a police radio, gradually gliding over the city with aerial shots until it arrives at a bridge where the Duh Duh Duh Man (Nunn) is dangling a henchmen off a bridge by his ankles. The shot begins from… I’m gonna say a quarter of a mile away, and then gradually gets closer, the credits obscuring what is happening until “directed by Mario Van Peebles” disappears and reveals the situation. In later sequences, Van Peebles’ use of canted frames, overhead shots, silhouette, slow motion, montage, and musical performance are creative and occasionally inspired. Perhaps the best scene is when Don Armeteo (John Aprea) sends a hit crew to a wedding to kill Nino and Nino decides to use a child as a human shield. The ensuing chaos combines many of the aforementioned tricks along with tracking shots, rack focus, and bountiful blood squibs (which contrast perfectly with the all-white wedding attire).
Though New Jack City doesn’t quite bear mentioning in the same breath as Scarface and King of New York, it’s a slickly made film shot through with flashes of brilliance.