Film: Paid in
Full (2002) 97 min - Drama | Action | Crime
Release date: 25 October 2002 (USA)
Nominated:
2003 Independent Spirit Award - Best First Feature
Filming Locations: New York City
Director:
Charles Stone III
Writers: Azie
Faison Jr. (earlier screenplay), Austin Phillips (earlier screenplay),
Stars: Mekhi
Phifer, Wood Harris and Chi McBride
Based on a True Story
The film “Paid in Full” was originally
based on the life of Azie Faison Jr., growing up as a youth in the 1980s New
York, Harlem drug scene. The films plot is a heavy reminder of America’s economic
and social issues dealing with poverty that face most low income communities. The
genre is 80’s urban hip hop, and setting is rooted in the underground, subculture,
of Harlem drug world. The narrative structure is a biopic story based on our
founding fathers philosophy of making a better life, that all American dream. This
“Rags to Riches”, story describes the relationship of three friends; Ace a young
man working for a dry cleaning business, Mitch a drug dealer who goes to prison,
and while locked up meets new-friend Rico as his right arms, released to all
join up together for control of the neighborhood. Growing up in poverty
stricken neighborhood, the character Ace gets introduced into the illegal drug
world, while making a normal delivery working one day for the local dry cleaners.
Ace finds some cocaine in a pants pocket from a local client, a well
established Columbian dealer named LuLu. Soon, Ace finds himself developing a
relationship with LuLu, and dealing cocaine in the neighborhood, ultimately
moving to the top of the Harlem drug world.
As great as the film is, I recently
learned about the films real life person testimony on how much the plot is really
based on the true story. Since discovering the true story, my opinion on how
good the film is didn’t change much, but did force me to critic it with
different standards. My opinion on Damon Dash, the film’s producer and owner of
Rockafella records, has definitely changed negatively. In interviews, Azie
Faison Jr., the real life Ace, has repeatedly accused Damon Dash of massively
altering and watering down the script for "Paid in Full". According
to Faison, the original version presented to Dash was a cautionary anti-drugs
tale and social commentary on the destruction drugs have wrought on the black
community. Faison has stated that the end result was merely a marketing tool
for Dash to promote Cam'Ron a (then) recent arrival to Dash's recording label,
Rocafella Records. When Damon Dash changed the plot from the original
screenplay, the film can be categorized as another fictional, wannabe criminal,
ocean’s eleven type movie that most audiences pay to see. The realism and
authenticity was the strength of the film. I guess While viewing any genre of
film, we should always remind ourselves about the entertainment or how much actuality
we see on the screen. How really real are documentaries? The film’s rewritten
script compresses over 7 years of events into 12 months. Ace is shown becoming
a dealer in 1986 but this happened in 1983 after seeing the movie Scarface. All
the later events which led to the downfall of all three major characters
transpired between late 1989 and 1992, and not in a one year premise. Six
people were actually held prisoner in the scene where Ace and a friend were
bundled into the apartment by Calvin's accomplices who demanded the
combination. All six were shot in the head when the extortion attempt failed
and three died, including Faison's aunt. The real life Calvin, Kevin Clark was
not murdered in a revenge killing by Rico, as is depicted in the film. Kevin
Clark and his accomplices, Ronald Timmons and Henry Bolden were all arrested
soon after the incident and are serving 112 years to life sentences.
In the genre of urban, ultimately the
synopsis of the plot is very believable and entertaining. As a viewer and fan
of authentic Hip Hop movies, many scenes do have that street creditable feel. The
attention to detail in many of the filmic elements is impressive. Honestly, the
way clothing was worn and the way the streets were portrayed took me back to my
childhood for a moment. While most Hollywood films of today focus on visual
effects, “Paid in Full” has literally taken its audience back to the old school
with creditable language, wardrobe, acting, setting, music, and an official hip
hop backdrop. As a fan of urban culture, I thought it was great to finally see
a film spending quality time researching the hip hop genre of the 80’s and
getting it correct. My favorite scene in the film was a frame within a frame
shot, with the camera view looking in and out through a small window of
building apartment door. In this shot, another scene is taking place within a
small, gloomy, window from a dark entrance door. I love how the camera view
displays a drug deal taken place inside of the building looking from the outside
of the door window, then cuts to inside the building looking out as Ace
approaches the door walking from the street. In my opinion, this scene refers
to a simple connotative meaning of Ace beginning from outside the drug world,
looking into the window wanting to get in the game.
If there was anything lacking in
the film, it was in the cinematography. Visually speaking, the urban city landscape
has such a large color palette with so many possibilities available. Although
the films cinematography was effective to the screenplay, the camera shots
lacked creativity and animation. Playing it conservative with the lack of
effects in post production made it no more of a documentary and less street
creditable. If Damon Dash wanted to keep
it real, he simply should have stuck to the real story. The characters visually
and realistically would have been portrayed so much closer to real life.
References: IMDB.com, Youtube, DVD director’s cut
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