Drama.  1 hr. 55 min.
Rated R for strong language, brutal violence, and some nudity.
Starring: Sean Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, N'Bushe Wright and Samuel L Jackson.
Written and Directed by Boaz Yakin.
Produced by Lawrence Bender and Randy Ostrow.

    "Fresh" is a movie most people will never forget, no matter how hard they try.  It is a violent, unflinching, contraversial, and infinitely disturbing look at an American ghetto.  My reality is so different to the characters' in this film, it's almost hard to digest this as a realistic portrayal of life, anywhere, but that would be naive, this is what life is like for many people across the world.

    The movie is seen through the eyes of a 12 year old drug-runner named Fresh (played by Sean Nelson), and if you think the idea of a 12 year old running drugs is depressing, it gets much worse.  Fresh (real name Michael) lives in his Aunt's home, which is shared by 11 of his relatives, all of whom seem to resent him because they feel he's going to get them kicked out.  Fresh realizes what's wrong with what he's doing, but he knows he has got to make money somehow, and this is the only way he knows.  Some of the movies strongest scenes are in the park, where Michael plays chess with the father (Samuel L Jackson) he's not allowed to see.  The chemistry between the two actors is amazing, and these scenes are the most emotional the movie has to offer.  It's obvious that Fresh is far too gifted to be wasting his life doing drug runs.  At this point in the movie, everything he has starts to slip away.  He witnesses the murder of two of his classmates (including the girl he has a crush on) over a basketball game, his best friend is killed, he gets kicked out of his house, and he has to put his dog down.  All of this leads up to a thrilling finale where Fresh tries to play all of the dealers in the neighbourhood at once, treating them like pawns in a chess game.

    Despite the brutal violence (it's not that graphic, it's more implied), "Fresh" doesn't glorify anything, or desensitize the viewer.  The scenes are just as shocking to us, just not the characters in the movie.  Near the end of the movie, there is a scene where a two gangs collide in a variety store, while Fresh watches bullets fly and people get killed, he eats a candy bar.  This sort of thing is not meant to make the violence seem any less real, instead it is there to show how it affects the people around it.  Another thing I must point out is the fabulously gripping performance by Sean Nelson, he really helps carry the movie.  Samuel L Jackson is also marvelous in his (albeit small) role.  "Fresh" is a fantastic movie, and one you should make an effort to see, although I should warn you, it's definitely not a feel-good movie, and it is fairly disturbing.

Rating:  9.0

- Nick Patch