The Beat (2003)

In a split narrative, a young man follows two paths: his father's dream of him becoming a cop, and his own dream of becoming a rapper

Director:

Brandon Sonnier

Writer:

Brandon Sonnier

Stars:

Rahman Jamaal, Kazz Wingate IV, 4-Zone

Cast

Credited cast:
Rahman Jamaal	...	Flip
Kazz Wingate IV	...	Cassius 'Cash' Bernard
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
4-Zone	...	Himself
Takbir Bashir	...	Tak
Charlie Capen	...	Young Businessman
Michael Colyar	...	Chi-Barnes
Steve Connell	...	Artis
Coolio	...	Emcee
John Cothran Jr.	...	Bumma
Keith Ewell	...	Tony
Fatso-Fasano	...	Greyton
J.B. Ghuman Jr.	...	Jimmy
Toby Howard	...	Quentin Bernard
Jazsmin Lewis	...	Tawanna
Brian McKnight	...	Record Executive

Storyline

In a split narrative, a young man follows two paths: his father's dream of him becoming a cop, and his own dream of becoming a rapper

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Plot Keywords:

interracial marriage | abusive father | homelessness | hip hop | biracial child | 

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Taglines:

Two Roads, One Path.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive language and some violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 August 2005 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$700,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Symbolic Entertainment, Tripped-Out Productions LLC

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

A hip-hop film that isn't cheesy

-This movie is definitely worth watching-

From my movie watching experience I've gathered that it's a real challenge to make a quality, fictional portrayal of an up and coming rapper, or for that matter any film that centers around the hip-hop culture. First of all, this is a solid movie regardless of its subject matter. It's thoroughly entertaining, well acted, moving, humorous at times and all that good stuff. I would not go so far as to call this a great film, but it is a very good first effort from a director that you'll certainly hear about again (Brandon Sonnier). The music aspect is certainly just one facet of this movie, which is ultimately a pretty intense drama.

As a hip-hop film, The Beat also succeeds. The main character does his own rhyming; well enough that it was difficult to tell whether he is an actor/rapper or a rapper/actor, which I guess is a good thing. If you like rap, the music in the film is good, not amazing, but definitely worthy of being listened to. If you don't like rap, I wouldn't expect to love the soundtrack, but I do think the music is palatable for almost all audiences. The portrayal of the hip-hop scene/culture is not over the top and all the characters are believable personalities. There are some rap stars in the film too, which adds a bit of attraction if you listen to hip-hop.

Essentially, this is not another movie with Eminem or 50 Cent deciding to become movie stars. It's... better than that.