Shaft

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FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 208 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="090ba8c0.png" border=0 width="186" height="140" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004Z1FX/reelmoviecriticc">Buy DVD from Amazon.com</A>  </div> <div>  <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004TDXT/reelmoviecriticc">Buy Soundtrack from Amazon.com</A>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="575"><div> <B>Shaft</B> *** (R)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="575"><div> Reviewed By George O. Singleton</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="585" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 18 ><NOBR><div> <I>Now we know why we still listen to so many tunes from the 1970's 30 years later!</I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="640" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 18 WIDTH="305"><div> John Shaft: Samuel L. Jackson </div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="328"><div> Peoples: Jeffrey Wright: </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 18 ><NOBR><div> Walter Wade Jr: Christian Bale     </div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="328"><div> Diane Palmierei:  Toni Collette </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 18 ><NOBR><div> Carmen Vasquez: Vanessa L. Williams </div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="328"><div> Trey Howard: Mekhi Phifer</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 18 WIDTH="305"><div> Rasaan: Busta Rhymes </div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Uncle John Shaft: Richard Roundtree</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="305"><div> Director: John Singleton</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="328"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="328" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>30 Second Bottom Line</B>: A detective quits the police force because he wants the latitude to ensure a conviction in the case of a hate crime committed by the son of a wealthy businessman. The detective creates many enemies because of his blatant disregard for civil liberties. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Story Line:</B> Trey (Mekhi Phifer) is an African-American who brings his white female companion to an upscale club where Walter (Christian Bale) is having a drink with his friends. Walter observes this with obvious distaste by making "home boy" type remarks. Trey finds a way to embarrass Walter and not long after that, Walter assaults him outside the club.</div> <bR> <div> Police detective Shaft (Samuel L. Jackson) punches Walter at the crime scene after he makes a wise crack regarding Trey having "rhythm" as he convulses on a stretcher while being lifted into an ambulance. Shaft subsequently leaves the force and begins working with his Uncle John (Richard Roundtree and the 1971 John Shaft), who now owns a detective agency. </div> <bR> <div> Walter avoids conviction by first getting a low bail and then fleeing to Europe. Shaft learns there is a witness to the crime committed by Walter, and he seeks out Diane (Toni Collette). She was a waitress at the club who was outside on a smoke break, and Walter has scared her into hiding. </div> <bR> <div> Shaft insults a Dominican dope dealer, Peoples (Jeffrey Wright), who becomes his mortal enemy. Walter and Peoples meet in jail and form an alliance of sorts, with both seeking revenge on Shaft. Carmen (Vanessa L. Williams) is an honest cop who helps Shaft with the policemen who are on the take with Peoples. They work together as a buddy team to bring justice face to face with Walter and Peoples.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Tell Me More About It</B>: <I>Shaft 2000</I> is more than just an update of the Gordon Park's original <I>Shaft</I> made in 1971, which showed African-Americans in a James Bond type role for the first time. Based in NYC, Shaft is a "bad mother" who deals with racism and drug dealers. Done very much tongue in cheek, similar to Mel Gibson's <I>Lethal Weapon</I> films, civil liberties are violated quicker than you can exhale. </div> <bR> <div> The music is still as hot as it was almost 30 years ago. This is a testament to why so many commercials today have songs from the 70's. It's my opinion that the music of that era is superior to most being produced today. While there are good songs today I don't think many will make an impression that will turn them into standards. Isaac Hayes has indeed created a song score for the ages. </div> <bR> <div> The 1971 <I>Shaft</I> was known for his macho exploits to include being a ladies man. It appears that Hollywood wants to play it safe and keep sex out of this update. The most sex comes from scenes from the 1971 film during the opening credits. You see a bare breast there, but at no other time do you get any action of consequence. Wanting to keep this a true cross over film, with a huge budget for a movie that stars an African-American, the studio decided to keep the focus on being cool, with a lot of action and staying away from the non- spoken stereotypes of a black man's prowess in bed. Since this is an R rated film with innumerable "mf's", something had to give. The language and violence borders on being gratuitous. Were this anyone but Samuel L. Jackson as John Shaft, this is a movie that probably would not have been made. He has the Sean Connery type panache that people already know and they like to see him strut his stuff. </div> <bR> <div> Latinos are portrayed in a controversial manner. That is, by characterization as dope dealers and by being portrayed by non-Latino actors. There were many rumors during the production about friction on the set between Jackson, director Singleton and the producer Scott Rudlin. I would not be surprised if casting was one of them. But that would have created bad press that would mean death to a $15M plus opening weekend. I would have expected that a film directed by an African-American, John Singleton (no known relation to me) would have cast Latinos  in Latino roles. Vanessa L. Williams is a police officer with the last name of Vasquez, and Peoples is played by Jeffrey Wright. If the roles had been reversed, I can see Jesse Jackson on his soap box making noise heard from LA to NYC.</div> <bR> <div> The action is great but nothing special. The shoot-outs are more like target practice at an amusement park and the car chase scenes are routine. What is special is about <I>Shaft</I> is the style in which social commentary is made. The rich have special rules within the system. Scums with money who live in the suburbs believe they are superior humans to scums who live in the hood. </div> <bR> <div> I find <I>Shaft</I> entertaining, and other than the lack of sex, it exceeds my expectations. The Hollywood notion that films need to be no more than 120 minutes to keep our attention, and must be shown as many times in a day as possible, probably led to some good footage being removed during the editing process. Unlike other recent action movies, such as the Bond film <I>The World Is Not Enough</I> and Sean Connery in <I>Entrapment</I>, it's refreshing to see something based in the US, which is action filled, fun to watch and has a tad more realism and wit. <I>Shaft</I> in 1971 was right for it's time and the <I>Shaft </I>of 2000 does it one better. If this does well at the box office, I expect and hope to see this become a franchise, whereby a new movie with John Shaft as the star appears every few years. </div> <bR> <div> Samuel L. Jackson is the James Brown of movies (the hardest working man). He plays a character in <I>Deep Blue Sea</I> who is the CEO of a large corporation. In <I>The Red Violin</I> (1999), he portrays an antique expert. He is one of the best character actors ever with his ability to play a wide variety of roles without typecasting himself. He's got the eyes, voice, and look to justify more romance in future films. He is a playboy in <I>Eve's Bayou</I>, and when the next <I>Shaft</I> is released, it's time to put some passion in the action.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="591" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> R (sex; violence; language)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> George O. Singleton © 2000</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> <A HREF="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com"><U><U>George@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="593" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 38 WIDTH="293"><div> Samuel L. Jackson: <I>Rules of Engagement</I></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="293"><div> Jeffrey Wright: <I>Basquiat</I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Christian Bale: <I>American Psycho</I></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Toni Collette: <I>The Sixth Sense</I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Vanessa L. Williams: <I>Light It Up</I></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="293"><div> Richard Roundtree: <I>Shaft</I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Busta Rhymes<I>: The Rug Rats</I></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="293"><div> Mekhi Phifer: <I>Clockers</I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="293"><div> John Singleton: <I>Rosewood</I></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="293"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="293" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="520" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="514"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="514" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>