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Reviews
State Property (2002)
Beans and Baby Boy decide their life isn't going anywhere. They recruit soldiers to help them reach the top of the drug industry but discover wealth with consequences.
Mostly, the whole gang of State Property is here (other than Young Gunz & Peedi Crack), complete with Omilio Sparks (Baby Boy), Oskeeno (D-Nice), and even Memphis Bleek (Blizz), a real close friend of the main character, Beanie Sigel ("Beans"). Amil & Jay-Z co-star in this thriller/crime/drama movie as they unfold in the plot.
I liked the fact Beans & Baby Boy start out in the strip club while thinking about their life, it gives a good-some feel to it, because the common man can relate to being down in the dumps and heading to their favorite strip bar. Blizz is their first recruited, how is someone they knew who just happens to pop-off someone in the club. Beans & his crew face the common challenges for any group attempting to reach respect, power & money ('the American Dream'): back-stabbing, snitches, and envy. *spoiler: Towards the end of the movie, C-zar, a man gunned down by the cops who used to work for Beans' crew talks to the police, which could endanger Beans' chance at fully living his newly-found opulent life--which he had planned to retire from soon before, on word of his lovely wife, Aisha (Sundy Carter). I loved that 1 guy poses as a handicapped and starts blasting from a hidden gun in his sling. From there, he drops a few officers, takes their guns, and ingeniously hands one to Beans. As soon as they see C-zar, cowering in a corner, one of them shoots a bullet into his head. Now, for the final part, my favorite, Beans is handed a gun and progresses to shoot all officers around. Reinforcements from outside show up and then Beans is taking down many. He gets cocky and begins mouthing off, only to be shot by Amil. With that turn of events, she blasts one bullet into the back of Beans' head when he wasn't looking and walks out of the room, as anonymous as any civilian carrying a briefcase outside the courtroom. The director did an excellent job in switching a scene to Beans' family, Aisha, his wife, and his daughter, Aja (whom he affectionately called "Stinky Butt"), crying & huddled together. This is when Beans comes back into the story and reveals it was made-up. "That only happens in the movies" he says, as he tells you what REALLY happened. He got LIFE in prison... he's State Property. I credit the director, Abdul Abott for both doing a magnificent job directing this scene and writing it in. Whether you think Nas or Jay-Z is better {or neither}, or you only like thrillers with well-known ACTORS (not rappers), I suggest you check this movie out.
The soundtrack is awesome, with Beanie Sigel songs such as "Die," "Mack B****," and State Property song, "Sun Don't Shine." Also, the acting is cool for one of Beans' & others' first movies, and the blood looks more real than not. Ernest & Abdul did such a great job writing the story I thought for a little while Beans actually wrote that on his life, based on the realistic feel. An excellent story, a radical idea (taking the "American Dream by force), and the realism make this movie worthwhile. That's why I give this story a '9 out of 10' rating.