Straight Out of Brooklyn

Plot synopsis:
Dennis, living in a Red Hook housing project in Brooklyn, New York has had enough of poverty, and witnessing his alcoholic father beat his mother. His father is depressed and troubled from working hard for "the white man" for so many years, yet having nothing to show for it.
Dennis and two friends come up with a plan to rob a local drug dealer and split the money. One of the friends asks his uncle to borrow his car, and then a connection he has gives him a shotgun for the operation.
Dennis keeps telling his girlfriend that they will soon have money and be able to move out of Brooklyn, but he does not actually tell her of the plan. When he does eventually explain what he is about to do, she leaves him and tells him the relationship is over. Meanwhile, his mother loses her job due to the bruises on her face from the ongoing domestic violence.
On the day of the robbery, Dennis and his friends wait in the car for the dealer to come out with a briefcase full of cash. As they drive up to him, Dennis points the gun in his face and tells him to hand over the bag, yet he doesn't actually shoot him as his friends were discussing in the car. The dealer complies, and they speed off. The dealer has now seen their faces, and after being ordered by the gangster he works for to get the money back, he goes out looking for the three.
When Dennis and his friends take the briefcase back home and realise that it contains much more than they expected, the other two get scared and realize they will be targeted for stealing the bag in the first place. After an argument with Dennis, they leave all the money with him and say they want nothing to do with it.
The same night, Dennis brings the money home to show his family and tells them they can move out of the projects, but his father is less than happy about what his son has done. This causes an argument in the house which leads to more violence and Dennis' mother having to go to the hospital.
The next day at the hospital, Dennis' father goes out for some air when the drug dealer who was robbed sees him and recognizes who he is. The dealer and his accomplices chase him and he is blocked on both sides and shot dead. At the same time, in the hospital, Dennis' mother dies with her son and daughter by her side. The movie ends with the bloodied father lying still in death, against a fence.

Tags: tragedy

Review:
Low Budget Urban Cinema Series..
Straight Out of Brooklyn (1991) was a great debut film for Matty Rich (who also co-stars as well).
This low budget movie is about the poverty and desperate situation that people live in around the Redhook housing district.
One person is a young man named Dennis, he's tired of seeing the effects of racism, drugs and poverty that plague his family and those around him.
He decides to make some money fast so he could improve his family's current condition.
His family is sadly affected as well.
Pop's is under the strong influence of alcohol and his mother is the victim of his violent out bursts.
The mother refuses to seek help or stand up to his physical and verbal abuse.
When he's not tying one on, Pop's is a great guy.
Can Dennis escape the depressing life of Redhook or will he become just another statistic?Matty Rich made a strong showing with his hard hitting debut but suffered from the dreaded sophomore jinx.
His next film The Inkwell wasn't bad but it couldn't stand up to his first.
Maybe he'll come back into the mix and make another movie that'll be as great as Straight Out of Brooklyn.
Don't give up Mr. Rich.Highly recommended..
Perfect debut.
Straight Out of Brookyln is a film similar to Boyz N The Hood, excpet it's set in New York.
The film about three friends is very moving and deep and it's shame it didn't get a wider release.
Matty Rich proved his talent with this film as a director, it's a shame that he didn't have the success he deserves..
Excellent movie worth seeing.
Being from NY originally, one often drives by the Red Hook section, this film doesn't skim the surface, everyone should see it.While it was a low budget film, the acting is first-rate.
George Odom is the father, I also thought the mother was realistically portrayed by Ann D.
Sanders...
as a woman who simply has no options, and is worried about her son and daughter.
When she tries to get help from the employment agency, we see the hypocrisy of the counselor, telling her to get help, when she clearly has no intention of offering help.Larry Gilliard Jr. is excellent as Dennis (he also had a recent role in "The Machinist", with Christian Bale, where he was quite good).
This movie is worth seeing because you feel for the characters, it is not just gratuitous violence, and deals with the mindset of the characters.Hopefully, Matty Rich will make more movies of this genre.
Highly recommended..
Powerful Performances, Realistic dialog, Looked Staged..
I have seen at least 450 films from the "Urban" genre, and I have to say I am always perplexed by this film.
If you are someone who is fussy about the aesthetics and the technical aspects of a film, you do not want to see this film.
However, if you are looking for a film with strong performances by black actors, or a film with a look at life in the projects, this is the film for you.
I think sometimes when we talk about project life we imagine a certain picture or image.
This film deals a lot more with the mindsets of people in the projects.
The most powerful performance is by George T.
Odom, whose monologues and multi-personalities combine for a great example of a struggling black man.
Larry Gillard Jr. is also in this film(the man who played D'Angelo Barksdale in HBO's The Wire) and he delivers a relatively impressive performance as a ordinary kid in the projects.
Overall this is an impressive film with no budget.
The one thing you need to be warned about is at times it is so low budget it will sometimes look as it was scenes from staged plays.
I also wish the supporting cast was made up of better actors.
I like this film, enough that i look at scenes from it once and a while when I myself am studying character archetypes..
Earnest, flawed, but respectable debut effort.
This film has many flaws, but many strengths as well.
Many luminaries in the film industry have openly criticized this film.
I feel much of this is unjustified, because a lot was done on a miniscule budget here.
There is also a great performance in George T.
Odom's portrayal of the fed up father who has been beaten down by racism.
Anyone who has grown up in a low income household can relate to that situation.
The ending is sad and real.
Also especially noteworthy is Harold Wheeler's excellent and despondent musical score..
Good debut for small budget film..
This film boasts credible performances by the cast, including some powerful moments.
The pacing is uneven at times, almost, but not convincingly, giving it a cinema verite feel.
The makeup for the battered wife is obvious to distraction.
It is certainly worth viewing, but one has to do so without comparing it to something a large studio would distribute.
I would love to see what Matty Rich might produce with a larger budget..
the voice of experience.
The memorable debut feature by Matty Rich begins by asking the question: what do you know about being black?
The answer is a familiar but powerful display of rage and desperation, set in the same, miserable Red Hook housing project where Rich himself grew up.
It's a simple, straightforward film, surprisingly polished given the inexperience behind the camera (the entire cast and crew were hired through newspaper want ads), and remarkable because writer/director/producer Rich was only 19 years old when the film was released.
His basic plot, about an angry teenager's reckless plan to escape the cycle of poverty by robbing a local drug lord, is direct and unambiguous, and the outline hasn't been embellished by any visual style.
But the understated script and a talented cast transform what could have been a hopeless melodrama into a gripping, heartfelt tragedy (but not entirely grim: a measure of humor is provided by some inspired comic banter).Postcript: at the time I thought the film might have trouble surviving the rush of 1991 summer blockbusters, but Matty Rich was a name to remember: he already showed more confidence and depth of feeling than many veteran directors.
Sadly, that potential was never fulfilled: Rich would direct only one more feature before disappearing into undeserved obscurity..
A decent urban tale of desperation and sorrow..
When I was little I remember seeing this movie on tape that my older brother once had and I enjoyed for what it was entirely but having just saw it I felt it that Matty Rich's first movie was a fairly decent movie, not as good as "BoyZ In The Hood" or "Menace To Society" directed by more talented people who know their material inside and out.
The acting is decent but to me it got really emotional near the end of the movie.
Overall, this film is not hard-hitting per Se, but it shows that desperation can sometimes lead to "success" however a dark cloud hangs over the victims that comes along with it.
Not Matty Rich's best work, but it's a solid film for what it is so there's no crime in not seeing it at least once..
Getting out of Red Hook.
Consider the plight of Dennis Brown.
He is living in the projects at Red Hook, Brooklyn, at the time when violence, drugs and despair was rampant among the poor, mostly black residents of that crime infected area.
Dennis shows he is a young man of a certain intelligence, who is going nowhere because instead of thinking about getting an education and beating the poverty, he has decided to solve his problems in a different fashion, he will rob the drug lord that has business in the same housing complex.Dennis' father Ray, is a man that feels beaten by the system.
He is also a man who has defeated himself and his family by drinking heavily.
Alcoholism is making him take all his frustrations against his loving wife, Frankie.
He beats her every time he is too drunk to think clearly, as he rants and raves.
Dennis, and his sister Carolyn, are helpless in defending their mother, who, like all victims, will not do anything to help herself and stays by her man.Dennis' life has a positive side in the love he shares with Shirley, the young waitress.
Shirley understands she wants no part of what Dennis tells her he is about to do, but she is helpless in trying to stop him from ruining his life and that of his family's.
Everything conspires against Dennis in the end."Straight Out of Brooklyn", directed by Matty Rich, who also has a key part in it, shows a talented man who tells it like he saw it.
The film has some awkward moments, but in general Mr. Rich achieved a great coup by casting an ensemble team to give life to his characters.
Best of all, the amazing Larry Gilliard Jr., who as Dennis shows a range of emotions others, more accomplished actors, would have problems portraying.
George T.
Odon, Ann Sanders, Barbara Sanon, play the other members of the Brown family with assurance.
Reana Drummond is another surprise who gives life to Shirley and makes us like her.The film is a vivid account of what life is like for people caught in a desperate situations caused by the environment and the lack of opportunities and the way they were dealt a bad hand by fate..
Powerful message no matter any budget this film has..
Straight Out of Brooklyn is a drama that emphasizes the feelings and emotions of many children, teens, and young adults in this world who go through some the similar situations the main character goes though in having to live in broken homes of constant alcohol abuse & domestic violence witnessed from those responsible of taking care of them.
The ending message gives all who watches this film an important lesson that the viewer itself is the most powerful force who can choose make a positive solution to break the tradition (or cycle) of abuse handed down, from generation to another.
I definitely recommend this film to anyone who wants to take action by helping those who are victims of abuse & admitted abusers themselves who want to change themselves before it is too late.
Therefore, my rating is an absolute 10.