Poetic Justice (1993)

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Justice (Janet Jackson) loses her boyfriend when someone shots him right in front of her on a date at the drive-thru. It's the violent world of South Central L.A. She withdraws into her hairdressing job and her poetry. Lucky (Tupac Shakur) is a postal carrier who is sweet on her. His ex is a drug addict whom he has a daughter with. Going to the hair show convention in Oakland, Justice has to ride with Lucky in his mail truck. He's going to his friends to work on his music. They argue. He throws her off his truck. And then they start to talk to each other.This is more of a romance within the gritty backdrop of violence. It's a surprising follow up to director John Singleton's debut 'Boyz n the Hood'. Justice is an angry character. Janet Jackson doesn't play it quirky or lightly. She is just bitter. She doesn't have the sweetness. Tupac shows that he was a good actor. It's a fairly safe romance. I like the minutia of everyday life. I don't really buy the romance. The chemistry is slightly off. I think it's Janet, but it's not fatal. It doesn't help that I find the poetry annoying. Her grumpiness just got me down.

I read the other review and simply had to comment on it. This was a great movie. Perhaps not filled with action. But it takes the poetic point of view and happily surprises you. It's in my DVD - shelf at home. Janet is showing a great acting and so is Tupac. My boyfriend weren't that crazy about it, so I've come to realize that it take a special kind of person to want to see and understand the movie at it's fullest. Since i write poetry in my spare time maybe that explains my passion about this movie. In all, I think you should rent it if the review at the back cover tempt you, it's pretty much what you get.

Justice is in love, sadly in Compton things happen and her boyfriend Markell is killed at a drive in. Since then she has worn black and stayed away from men and just written her poems. However when she is taken on a road trip by her friend Iesha she finds she has been set up with her boyfriend's friend Lucky. At first the two don't get on but over the course of the trip the four fight, make up and learn.Singleton was always going o have a hard time with that `difficult second film' but at least he had honourable intentions. This sees him step away from the easy ghetto flick and goes for something deeper. And it is a good try but it's deeply flawed. The overuse of swearing may be necessary and realistic but it is overdone here and spoils many scenes – he could have toned it down a bit and kept realism. Also the plot is very broken down – we have a trip that never seems to get dark but has too much in it for just one day surely? Also each stop is supposed to show us another aspect of `the black experience' other than the protagonists ghetto existence. However this doesn't work as it makes the film feel aimless and episodic.The main failing is sadly, Janet Jackson. On one hand it's not her fault – the poems are those of a more mature woman (Angelou – who plays aunt June) and they don't fit with her. The clearest example of this is watching her stare into space, rubbing her chest as she `writes' `Phenomenal Woman'. But also she is really poor – she doesn't have the range to make the character believable and the rest of this falls as a result. Continuing the musical theme Tupac is a talent sadly missed. He shines here and, although the swearing etc isn't hard for him he does the more emotional stuff much, much better than Jackson. I can't sing his praises enough – for me he made this watchable when I was getting bored of it. Other musicians include Tone Loc and Q-Tip…..was this some sort of label push? Regina King is poor – her constant talking like a Jerry Springer guest etc is really tiresome and her `partner' Torry is just as bad – whose idea was it to have he constantly brushing his hair for no reason? Was it the only way we would get that he's vain?I will give credit to Singleton for trying. I especially liked the way he brings the `black urban experience' into contrast with the white idea of cities in movies in the first 5 minutes. We open with shots of a lit up and pretty cityscape of LA with Gerswin-esque music playing a la Woody Allen's Manhattan. However this image of how Allen views his city is revealed to be a movie in a drive through in Compton – this, he's saying, is the black reality. A very clever start I thought (and props for Billy Zane and Lori Petty for agreeing to be in yet another bad movie – even if it's a fake one!)Overall I wanted to like this as it was a brave step for Singleton. However the plot needed more work – and the whole ` black experience' stops could have been removed or toned down to just be `stops' without the agenda. However the casting of Jackson sounded time on this project – she really can't even get near the ability needed for this role – with a better actress, who knows?

This is one of the greatest movies. the greatest romance movie to. Tupac performance is so great. he proves he can do different roles every time he acts. this is probably john singletons 2nd best film next to boys n tha hood of course. Tupac just gives a thug from the streets performance to a romantic performance. the movie is fun to watch especially when tupac and janet get in to arguments.