South Central (1992)

A man is sent to prison for 10 years. Coming out of prison he wants to live a normal life and stop crime but his son has now followed the criminal path of his father.

Director:

Stephen Milburn Anderson (as Steve Anderson)

Writers:

Stephen Milburn Anderson (screenplay) (as Steve Anderson), Donald Bakeer (book)

Stars:

Byron Minns, Glenn Plummer, Lexie Bigham

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Glenn Plummer	...	Bobby
Byron Minns	...	Ray Ray
Lexie Bigham	...	Bear (as Lexie D. Bigham)
Vincent Craig Dupree	...	Loco
LaRita Shelby	...	Carole
Kevin Best	...	Genie Lamp
Big Daddy Wayne	...	Henchman (as 'Big Daddy' Wayne)
Allan Hatcher	...	Baby Jimmie
Alvin Hatcher	...	Baby Jimmie
Baldwin C. Sykes	...	Ken Dog
Rana Kirkland	...	Girl in Club (as Rana Mack)
Diane Manzo	...	Undercover Cop
Sal Landi	...	Detective
Christian Coleman	...	Jimmie
Leonard Boyles	...	Termite

Storyline

A man is sent to prison for 10 years. Coming out of prison he wants to live a normal life and stop crime but his son has now followed the criminal path of his father.

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Plot Keywords:

prison | potato | father son reunion | police interrogation | undercover policewoman | 

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Taglines:

A child's chance to escape anger and injustice begins with one man...His father.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for gang violence, and for language and drug content

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 September 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

South Central - In den Straßen von L.A.

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$1,373,196 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Enchantment Films Inc., Ixtlan, Monument Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While "Hoover Duece" are a fictional gang, they are actually a parody of the real Hoover Crips/Criminals gang in South Los Angeles.

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Quotes

Bobby: I owe everybody in this joint, and all I did was help my homeboy Loco.
Ali: Helping is costly.

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Connections

Spoofed in Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996)

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Soundtracks

2 Skanless
Written by Hi-C (as C. Wilkerson) and Tony Alvarez (as T. Alvarez)
Performed by Hi-C
Courtesy of Skanless Records

User Reviews

The film is "serious" and well intentioned, telling a heart-breaking story with a valid message.

Though the film is "serious" and well intentioned, telling a heart-breaking story with a valid message, its impact is considerably weakened by a naïve story-line and a undistinguished screen-play. I hunted around to see if this was "based on a true story", like "The Birdman of Alcatraz", but I found no evidence; that might have excused some of the awkwardness. There are some movingly warm scenes, though I was never groping for a kleenex. It reminded me of one of those Worthy Westerns I watched as a kid, where the bad guy meets a good guy/woman who changes his life: it had too many predictable and not totally credible steps. When, at the end, the hoodlum about to shoot him says, "Prison sure turned you stoopid!", I was inclined to agree. He talked his way out of the jam, but only because the narrative demanded it: his speech would never have convinced me, any more than Eli's words in the prison cell would have made me turn over a new leaf. These key "speeches" lacked any eloquence, and I frequently found myself predicting the dialogue. Nevertheless its best moments, especially the confrontations, are really gripping - until the end, that is, when it's too easy to foresee that no harm will come to anyone and Good will prevail. It's unfashionable and courageous to give such a story a happy ending (cf. "La Haine", where the vicious circle of hate is NOT broken and a bleak future is foreseen), and perhaps its optimism speaks more deeply to audiences in the States.