Juice

> If you gotta go out, *that's* how you go out. That motherfucker took his destiny in his own hands.
>
> Tupac Shakur as Roland Bishop

***Juice*** is a 1992 American crime thriller film directed by Ernest R. Dickerson, and written by Dickerson and Gerard Brown. It stars Omar Epps, Tupac Shakur, Jermaine Hopkins and Khalil Kain. The film touches on the lives of four black youths growing up in Harlem, following their day-to-day activities, their struggles with police harassment, rival neighborhood gangs and their families. It was filmed in New York City in 1991 and is Shakur's debut and breakthrough starring role, his performance lauded by critics. The film grossed $8 million in its opening weekend, and grossed a total of $20.1 million worldwide. It was nominated in 1993 at the film festival, Mystfest, for Best Film.

The 25th Anniversary DVD and Blu-ray edition was released on June 6, 2017, which included bonus content, like director's commentary, a retrospective video, interviews with cast and characters, and discussion of its soundtrack. In celebration of its 30th anniversary, Paramount Pictures released a 4K restoration, with no new video supplements.

## Casting Tupac Shakur

> The movie is about four kids and their coming-of-age. It's not a hip-hop movie. It's a real good movie that happens to have hip-hop in it. If it was made in the 60s, it would've depicted whatever was 'down' in the 60s. My character is Roland Bishop; a psychotic, insecure, very violent, very short-tempered individual. [...] In the movie my character's father was a prison whore, and that was something that drove [Bishop] through the whole movie. It just wrecked his mind. You can see through everybody else's personality, Bishop just wanted to get respect. He wanted the respect that his father didn't get. Everything he did, he did just to get a rep. So from those problems never being dealt with led to him ending four people's lives.
>
> Tupac Shakur

In Sheldon Pearce's *Changes: An Oral History of Tupac*, it mentioned Shakur's landing of the role. Videographer Gobi Rahimi said, "[Tupac] knew how to project. He knew how to use emotions. He knew how to articulate feelings visually. So he was a phenomenon." Casting director Jaki Brown explained that he sent the script to various rappers, including Humpty (Digital Underground) and Treach (Naughty by Nature). The first declined and the latter came in, but wasn't right for the role. Treach recalled to *Vibe*, "Flavor Unit Management had me go in and read for the role of Bishop. I had no acting skills. I didn't know shit. I went there reading this shit like I was just reading if off paper and only knew half the language. My acting skills were null and void. I was like, "Riverside…um…mother…fucker." I knew the lines but didn't know how to deliver them." He continued how Shakur felt bad of getting the role, "so he was like, 'Come with me to the set and I'm going to get you into this movie.' He got me into the movie. I didn't have no motherfucking lines but I was the only black Dominican in that motherfucker. That shows you how loyal he was and where his heart was at. He didn't want to experience being successful in movies without sharing that with his family and friends."

Kain added that Money B from Digital Underground was brought in, and Shakur "was with the crew," suggested by Underground's road manager, Sleuth. Despite not being on the audition list, Brown remembered that Shakur came into his office, asked to audition for the part, and was "all over the place". Brown remarked, "He was amazing—amazing. He underplayed Bishop, he didn't yell and scream and do all that stuff. Bishop being such a nasty killer, horrible person to be screaming and yelling—Tupac figured out the best way to play it was going under. He had the intense quality, but he was perfect. I went and got Gerard. I told him I wanted him to see somebody." He recalled that when telling Shakur he got the part, "he grabbed me and hugged me and he's crying." Mark Neal of Duke University stated, "That was the moment I recognized that this is somebody that we should pay more attention to. It was an undistilled depiction of Black existentialism. The genius of pulling it off. What we see in this kind of a deep underlying rage, and even self-hatred. For someone that age to be able to play that off as an actor, to tap into this energy at such a young age, is unbelievable."

Brown noted that Shakur did not fit the description, as Bishop was supposed to be "bigger and more imposing," though tossed the criteria away upon hearing Shakur's reading. Dickerson described, "One of the things about Bishop that people initially didn't get is that Bishop is damaged. We have that scene where he tries to relate to his father, who is traumatized. There is a vulnerability to Bishop. There was a part of him that just wanted to be liked and loved by the rest of them. You had to feel that damage come out, that Bishop's whole deal was coming from the great deal of pain he had on the inside. His father was brutalized in prison. We alluded that he was sexually assaulted. That's why in the original script, Bishop commits suicide. [...] The studio found out in the test screenings that the audience didn't like that the "bad guy" decides how he's going to die."

## Plot

Roland Bishop, Quincy "Q" Powell, Raheem Porter, and Eric "Steel" Thurman are four teenage African-American friends growing up together in Harlem. They regularly skip school, instead spending their days hanging out at Steel's apartment, at a neighborhood arcade, and also a record store where they steal LPs for Q's DJ interests. They are also harassed daily by the police and a Puerto Rican gang led by Radames.

Fed up with the harassment he and his friends have endured, Bishop decides that the group must go on to do bigger things in order to win respect. However, Q is unsure if he wants to become involved in a life of crime. One night, under Bishop's persistence, the friends decide to rob a local convenience store owned by Fernando Quiles.

However, Q is unsure of the plan, and also fears that it will affect his chances of participating in a DJ competition which he has yearned to compete in for years, although he is eventually pressured by his friends. During the robbery, Bishop fatally shoots Quiles in the head, and the group flees the scene.

The four then gather in an abandoned building where they argue over the evening's events; Q, Raheem and Steel are angry at Bishop for killing Quiles, and Raheem demands that Bishop give the gun to him. However, Bishop resists, and a struggle ensues before Bishop shoots Raheem dead. Panicking, Bishop, Q and Steel flee to another building, where Bishop threatens to kill Q and Steel if they reveal to anybody that he murdered Raheem.

Q and Steel realize that Bishop is beginning to become addicted to the thrill of killing, and they agree to give Bishop as wide a berth as possible. However, while attending Raheem's funeral, they find Bishop there, who goes as far as to comfort Raheem's mother (Lauren Jones) and promise to find his killer. While Q and Steel are mostly able to avoid Bishop, he eventually finds and confronts them, questioning their loyalty.

Later, Bishop confronts and kills Radames, then plans to frame Q for his murders in order to cover his tracks. Fearful of Bishop, Q resorts to buying a gun for his own protection. Meanwhile, Bishop confronts Steel in an alley, accusing him of disloyalty, and shoots him. However, Steel survives the attack and is rushed to the hospital, where he informs Q's girlfriend Yolanda about Bishop and his plan to frame Q. Frustrated with the troubles brought upon him, Q throws his gun into the river and decides to confront Bishop unarmed. Q and Bishop meet, where a fight and a chase ensue.

Q is subsequently chased into a building where a party is being held, where Bishop begins firing into a group of partygoers in an attempt to hit Q, but Q escapes unharmed. Q manages to disarm Bishop while he is distracted, and he pursues Bishop to a roof of a high-rise building. As the two get into a physical altercation, Bishop eventually falls off the ledge, but is caught by Q. Bishop begs Q not to let go, but Q eventually loses his grip, and Bishop falls to his death.

As Q is leaving the rooftop, a crowd from the party gathers to see what happened. One of the people in the crowd turns to Q and says, "Yo, you got the juice now, man." Q turns to look at him, shakes his head in disgust, and walks away.

## Original ending

The original ending of the film had Bishop holding onto Q's hand. Upon hearing the police sirens, he chooses to fall to his die instead rather than going to jail. Dickerson explained to *Vibe*, "In the last moment, these guys find their friendship again and he lets go of Q's hand and says "I'm not going to jail" and Q is struggling to hold on but Bishop lets go and silently slides away into the abyss. That was the way we filmed it. [...] The point was to show that this damaged state of mind that Bishop had was something real that had to be dealt with—the fact that he would rather die than go to jail. It was a better ending and we protested but the studio said, "We will not support the film the way you want us to support it." I was hoping that maybe I could restore it at some later time and maybe have a director's cut. But yeah, Bishop commits suicide. He elected to die and that was from having seen what happened to his father. It was a beautiful moment."

## Cast

* Omar Epps as Quincy "Q" Powell
* Tupac Shakur as Roland Bishop
* Khalil Kain as Raheem Porter
* Jermaine Hopkins as Eric "Steel" Thurman
* Cindy Herron as Yolanda
* Vincent Laresca as Radames
* Samuel L. Jackson as Trip
* George O. Gore II as Brian
* Grace Garland as Q's mother
* Queen Latifah as Ruffhouse MC

Cameos
* Oran "Juice" Jones as Snappy Nappy Dugout
* Flex Alexander as “Flex”
* Doctor Dré and Ed Lover as Contest judges
* Fab 5 Freddy as himself
* Donald Faison as student
* EPMD as Bar patrons
* Treach as a member of Radames crew

## Reception and legacy

*Juice* received critical and commercial success, where many observed its authentic depiction of inner-city life, as well as the strong performances. It holds a rating of 79% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 29 reviews. On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 60 out of 100, based on 17 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

*Miami Herald* wrote in their review, "*Juice* is part coming-of-age story and part heavy-handed but effective social message. It's also part psychological profile—as Bishop grows increasingly psychopathic—and just plain scary." *Variety* said, "Dickerson and co-writer Gerard Brown exhibit a sharp ear for dialog and have some real finds in their largely unknown cast," while Janet Maslin of *New York Times* praised Dickerson, who "has a terrific eye and some juice of his own." *Los Angeles Times* was less impressed, stating, "it seems a shame that "Juice's" script ends up so unexciting and predictable. Both the film's characters and the real-life situations they're based on deserve better. Now that filmmakers have begun to show the ghetto in living color with some regularity, they will have to come to grips with the fact that just showing it isn't going to cut it anymore." Film critic Roger Ebert awarded *Juice* a three out of four stars, and said, "It tells one of those stories with the quality of a nightmare, in which foolish young men try to out-macho one another until they get trapped in a violent situation which will forever alter their lives." He continued, "The scene-setting opening moments of "Juice" seem almost too picturesque, but then we feel the underlying logic of the story, and Dickerson finds a rhythm that uses the visuals instead of just flaunting them." *Reel Films* applauded Shakur's performance, "Shakur's predominantly electrifying efforts as the volatile Bishop certainly playing an integral role in cementing the movie's success. (Shakur is so good here, in fact, that the movie occasionally struggles to elevate itself up to his level.)"

Martin Liebman wrote of the Blu-ray release, "[*Juice*] features a very handsome and natural 1080p transfer. It's bountifully filmic, offering a light, evenly dispersed grain structure with only mild spike to it. Details are excellent. Textural nuance is very impressive, whether considering faces, complexly stitched or densely constructed clothes, or various examples of rougher urban surfaces, like concrete and brick. Clarity and sharpness extend through the image. Colors are well defined. The movie can be fairly dark or often lacking in serious, punchy color, but the palette stands strong as it's presented. [...] This is a very impressive catalogue release from Paramount."

*The Guardian*'s Richard Watson said in a retrospective article, "[the film] initially filed by many critics as a rapsploitation retread of the previous year's *Boyz n the Hood*. But nearly 20 years after its release, *Juice* is still making noise." He said of its impact, "'film noir' with teenagers—and hip-hop, is still finding young fans today." *Houston Press* called the climatic ending "among the worst in cinematic history," while *Essence* described it as, "well-received by critics, but as years passed the film would become so much more." *Collider* called it "a defining hip-hop film" and praised Shakur's role:

> *Juice* is a standout in the hood genre for many reasons, but it was Dickerson's decision to cast Tupac as Roland Bishop that sealed the deal. Beyond the fact that his simple presence grants the film an authenticity that is essential for something like this to succeed [...] the gravitas that he brings to Bishop elevates what could have been an implausible character into someone who seems painfully real. He's charming and terrifying in equal measure, and gives the film the spice that makes it feel wholly unique from anything else it was up against. By the time 1992 drew to a close, there was no questioning Tupac's place in the bustling hip-hop community, and his fantastic turn in Juice played a vital role in this victory.
>
>

## by various

### **Genre**

* Hip hop
* R&B

### **Label**

* MCA
* Soul

### **Producer(s)**

* Ant Banks
* Brand New Heavies
* DJ Muggs
* EPMD
* Gary G-Wiz
* Hank Shocklee
* Hurby Luv Bug
* Naughty by Nature
* Rakim
* Teddy Riley

## **Singles from *Juice (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)***

1. "Uptown Anthem"
Released: January 22, 1992
2. "Juice (Know the Ledge)"
Released: 1992

### Charts

 1991
* Released: December 31, 1991
* Label: MCA

## Gallery

Juice - Original Ending (Juice 25th Anniversary)Juice - Omar on Tupac's Song Brenda's Got a Baby (Juice 25th Anniversary)Juice - Remembering Tupac (Juice 25th Anniversary)
## References

1. ↑ "*Juice* (1992)". *Box Office Mojo*. IMDb. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
2. ↑ "*Juice* (1992)". *The Numbers*. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
3. ↑ Lamarre, Carl (June 6, 2017). "Watch Tupac Shakur Shine in Newly Released Alternate Ending for 'Juice'". *Billboard*.
4. ↑ "'Juice' at 30: An Urban Psychological Thriller Dressed in "Hood Movie" Clothes". *Rock the Bells*. January 17, 2022.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Oral History: Tupac's Acting Career Told Through His Co-Stars and Producers". *Vibe*. January 17, 2012.
6. ↑ Pearce, Sheldon (June 16, 2021). "The Oral History of 'Juice,' Tupac's Breakout Role". *The Ringer*.
7. ↑ Juice (1992).
8. ↑ *Juice* reviews
9. ↑ "*Juice*. *The Miami Herald*, page 200. January 18, 1992.
10. ↑ Maslin, Janet (January 17, 1992). "Review/Film; Too Much to Prove, and No Reason to Prove It". *The New York Times*.
11. ↑ Turan, Kenneth (January 17, 1992). "MOVIE REVIEW : Is This 'Juice' Fresh?". *Los Angeles Times*.
12. ↑ "*Juice* review"". *Roger Ebert*. January 17, 1992.
13. ↑ Nusair, David (January 23, 2022). "*Juice* review". *Reel Film*.
14. ↑ "Juice Blue-ray Review". June 19, 2017.
15. ↑ Watson, Richard (September 29, 2011). "Juice fresh 20 years on". *The Guardian*.
16. ↑ Caldwell, Brandon (July 25, 2017). "Why *Juice* Is a Classic Movie With a Bad Ending". *Houston Press*.
17. ↑ Jones, Okla (January 19, 2022). "'Juice' Turns 30: See The Film's Cast Then And Now". *Essence*.
18. ↑ Mosley, Matthew (January 4, 2023). "Tupac's Terrifying Charm in 'Juice' Made the Hip-Hop Movie Stand Out". *Collider*.

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