Dead Presidents is a gritty 1995 urban drama that tries to tell an epic story on a very intimate canvas, but only partially succeeds.
The film stars Larenz Tate as Anthony Curtis, an aimless youth who is working for a local numbers runner (Keith David), who upsets his family when, instead of going to college, decides to enter the military and gets sent to Vietnam. The meat of the film focuses on his return from Vietnam where he learns he has a daughter he knew nothing about, has no way to support her, and learns that his daughter and his Baby Mama (Rose Jackson) have been taken care of by a slimy pimp (Clifton Powell). When the nothing job he gets with a butcher turns out to be insufficient to support his daughter and the child that's on the way, he ends up turning to crime.
The Hughes Brothers, who were much more successful with Menace II Society, give us a long, rambling film that suffers primarily due to an overblown and preachy screenplay. The section of the film where Anthony is in Vietnam is way too long and ends just in time for us to continue caring what happens.
Tate's baby-faced sincerity goes a long way in making us care about Anthony and both David and Powell make the most of the meaty roles they've been given. Chris Tucker is also effective as Anthony's junkie friend who contracted Agent Orange in Vietnam and N'Bushe Wright as Jackson's sister, who is instrumental in Anthony's descent into a life of crime.
The movie is way too long, but Tate's solid on screen charisma does help to sustain interest for the most part.
The film stars Larenz Tate as Anthony Curtis, an aimless youth who is working for a local numbers runner (Keith David), who upsets his family when, instead of going to college, decides to enter the military and gets sent to Vietnam. The meat of the film focuses on his return from Vietnam where he learns he has a daughter he knew nothing about, has no way to support her, and learns that his daughter and his Baby Mama (Rose Jackson) have been taken care of by a slimy pimp (Clifton Powell). When the nothing job he gets with a butcher turns out to be insufficient to support his daughter and the child that's on the way, he ends up turning to crime.
The Hughes Brothers, who were much more successful with Menace II Society, give us a long, rambling film that suffers primarily due to an overblown and preachy screenplay. The section of the film where Anthony is in Vietnam is way too long and ends just in time for us to continue caring what happens.
Tate's baby-faced sincerity goes a long way in making us care about Anthony and both David and Powell make the most of the meaty roles they've been given. Chris Tucker is also effective as Anthony's junkie friend who contracted Agent Orange in Vietnam and N'Bushe Wright as Jackson's sister, who is instrumental in Anthony's descent into a life of crime.
The movie is way too long, but Tate's solid on screen charisma does help to sustain interest for the most part.