Dead Presidents

Brothers In Arms. Albert and Allen Hughes direct, produce and co-write (with Michael Henry Brown) this tale about Anthony Curtis (Larenz Tate), a South Bronx boy who goes off to fight in Vietnam, to then return after his tours of duty to find things just aren't the same anymore. The follow up to their incendiary debut, Menace II Society, the Hughes brothers deliver another in your face picture that is quite frankly on a perpetual downer. This is no bad thing, though, as long as you are not looking to be cheered up. That's Uncle Sam for you! Mean Green. The pic very much harks back to the glory days of film noir in the 40s and 50s, where some talented film makers began to tell stories of returning war veterans finding what they left behind is now alien to them - with some characters, as is the case here - deeply scarred by their experiences. Add in some gangster elements and the coup de grâce that is the scintillating heist, and clearly the brothers have seen many an old classic film. That the narrative is tried and tested stops the piece hitting greater heights, this in spite of some super acting (especially Tate and the always value for money Keith David) and the hard hitting violence that pierces the senses. Predictable yet potent, and certainly memorable, it's well worth a look for the tough of mind and the classic era film of heart. 7/10

The fairly charismatic Larenz Tate tries quite hard here as "Curtis", a lad with potential who falls in with petty criminal "Kirby" (Keith David) before enlisting in the US Marines to go and fight in Vietnam. After the war, he returns to his girlfriend "Juanita" (Rose Jackson) and his four year old daughter - but acclimatising to his new situation proves too difficult leading him to reunite with his wartime colleagues to carry out a daring armoured car heist. The story is pretty formulaic and the actors are rarely challenged by the lacklustre script - that does little to develop any characterisations - and the largely unimaginative direction. There is a missed opportunity to look at the post war trauma and loneliness; the sense of abandonment felt by many soldiers returning home after the intensity of conflict - but nope, nothing really doing here on that front. The photography has it's moments and the ending is lively, but sadly this film is just all a bit too entrenched in stereotype and a well trammelled plot that is far too long and misses way more than it hits.