Paper Soldiers
The excellentPaper Soldiersshifts fluidly from comedy to  serious drama as it follows an overeager burglar named Shawn (Kevin Hart)  through the ups and downs of his short, stressful career. Already on parole but  faced with the power being turned off and his child forced to eat nothing but  cereal, Shawn convinces an older thief (Derrick "Capone" Lee) to train him. He  soon finds himself caught between his angry girlfriend (Tiffany Withers), his  incompetent would-be-criminal friends, and a neighborhood sociopath with a  hair-trigger temper (Beanie Sigel).Paper Soldiersalways feels real, which  makes the humor genuine and lets the movie shift gears into high tension. The  performances are compelling throughout--Hart makes you care about Shawn without  ever letting him off the hook for his foolish decisions. Smartly written and  skillfully directed,Paper Soldiersdeserves to be seen. Featuring cameos  by Jay-Z, Memphis Bleek, and others.--Bret Fetzer