Fresh (1994)

Director:

Boaz Yakin

Writer (WGA):

Boaz Yakin (written by)

Release Date:

24 August 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

In a world where criminals make the rules an innocent boy is out to beat them at their own game.

Plot:

Michael (or Fresh as he's well known) is a 12-year-old drug pusher who lives in a crowded house with his cousins and aunt...

Plot Keywords:

Drugs | Drug Pusher | Revenge | Chess | Young Boy

Awards:

4 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Sean Nelson	...	Fresh
Giancarlo Esposito	...	Esteban
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Sam
N'Bushe Wright	...	Nichole
Ron Brice	...	Corky
Jean-Claude La Marre	...	Jake (as Jean LaMarre)
José Zúñiga	...	Lt. Perez
Luis Lantigua	...	Chuckie
Yul Vazquez	...	Chillie
Cheryl Freeman	...	Aunt Frances
Anthony Thomas	...	Red
Curtis McClarin	...	Darryl (as Curtis L. McClarin)
Charles Malik Whitfield	...	Smokey
Víctor González	...	Herbie
Guillermo Díaz	...	Spike

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | USA:R (certificate #32866) | Singapore:M18 | France:-12 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Netherlands:16 | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia) | Finland:K-15 | Australia:MA | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Lumière Pictures

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Fresh and Sam play chess for the second time, Fresh checks Sam, and Sam responds by checking Fresh while leaving his own king under attack. This is against the rules of chess.

Quotes:

[playing chess]
Sam: [to Fresh] You're playing each piece like losing it hurts. This ain't checkers. You want my king, you got to come get my king. All these other pieces are just the means to do it.

Movie Connections:

References Action Jackson (1988)

Soundtrack:

La Que Mas Menea

A movie to make your jaw drop open

Now I have witnessed the third truly great film to have come out of America in 1994. One that can hold its own, and more, against such films released that year as "Pulp Fiction," "Natural Born Killers," and "Vanya on 42nd Street." It's called "Fresh," and I'll go out on a limb to say it's as powerful an urban drama as any other I've seen in my life.

There are no fancy cinematic magic tricks going on in this film, aside from an instance of superimposed images that is so simple it almost seems like a throwback to old silent dramas. There are no choreographed gun fights, no switching film stocks to produce psychedelic effects, nothing like that. Not to say that these things cannot be used appropriately and judiciously to enhance the effect of a particular film, but "Fresh" is stripped bare, and must depend on its performances, direction, and writing alone.

For starters, a young Sean Nelson delivers a performance that puts the lion's share of veteran actors to shame. He's completely lacking in self-consciousness, almost like he's unaware that the camera is on him for nine out of ten of the shots in "Fresh." His character, for which the film takes its title, may be the smartest youth in motion picture history for whom genius is not a gimmick or a joke (i.e. "Good Will Hunting," "Real Genius," stuff like that). Watching him, you see a wise old actor in a teen's body; he does not "act" any emotions or thoughts, but merely feels them and thinks them. He seems to embody bits of screen legend: a little Bogart stalwartness there, some of Jimmy Stewart's quiet charm here, and most of all Morgan Freeman's ability to communicate much while doing or saying very little.

That'd be just enough for most movies, but Nelson is backed by a choice supporting cast: the two most recognizable names are obviously Samuel L. Jackson (Fresh's chessmaster/alcoholic father) and Giancarlo Esposito (the slimy, high-living drug dealer Esteban), and both are perfect in award-caliber performances. Two lesser known actors, N'Bushe Wright (Fresh's junkie sister Nichole) and Jean LaMare (as Jake, the hot tempered low-man-on-the-totem-pole employee of Corky) are also terrific in key roles.

The screenplay, by director Boaz Yakin, is doggedly unpredictable, but in retrospect it all makes perfect sense -- nothing in the movie pushes the bounds of credibility. I've seen truckloads of thrillers, most of them are wearily proficient at making you guess what's next. None but a few, however, kept me guessing WHEN to guess, or surprised me with such affecting emotional developments. None but a few moved along with such self-assured grace and style. "Fresh" knows its territory, the time and place it's set in, and it provides characters who talk like they do in real life -- not ones that sound like they're in a movie where they talk like they do in real life.

The use of violence is admirably restrained. Most of it takes place off camera, silhouetted, or cut away from quickly. The two scenes of bloodletting, when they are shown to us, are literally heartbreaking. Not only does "Fresh" keep us off guard on a psychological level, but on an emotional one as well, something few films ever think of doing.

If I were to offer one criticism, it would be that the chess metaphor was pressed just a bit too hard by Yakin (though the final scene is devastating): we already know that this kid is thinking like a master strategist, we don't need quite so many shots of him playing the game in his room. That's a small quibble, though, because the chess metaphor is entirely appropriate, and Jackson's early speech about the game is an ingenious device.