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William
Forsythe (left) and Allen Payne star in Blue Hill Avenue.
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On 'Blue Hill Avenue' It's Déjà Vu All Over Again
by Esther Iverem
SeeingBlack.com Editor and Film Critic
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Each gangster flick must have it's own gimmick and edge. It must
be entertaining and it must have something that sets it apart from
the legions that have gone before it. Blue Hill Avenue has
an edge in Allen Payne, it has scenes that are entertaining and
action-packed but, unfortunately, it is not all that fresh. To those
of us with even a cursory repertoire of film viewing, it will recall
Sugar Hill, Hoodlum and perhaps even New Jack City.
But not all re-runs are bad. In this case, writer-director Craig
Ross Jr. sets his story in the Roxbury section of Boston where four
boys quickly graduate from street games to street crime. Their rise
and transformation from b-ball loving kids to gun-toting drug dealers
is swift. One moment, they are almost afraid to look at a gun, the
next minute they are blowing cats away—boom!
As adults they become Boston's biggest ring of crack dealers. Tristan
(Payne) is the leader. E-Bone (William L. Johnson) is hotheaded.
Simon (Michael Talifero) is the very big bodyguard and enforcer.
Money (Aaron Spears) is the nondescript faithful soldier. Much of
the plot shifts between the rise of these gangsters and the moral
dilemma that Tristan feels as he confronts the community impact
of what he is doing. A series of incidents—a break-in at his
uncle's barbershop, the physical deterioration of his junkie sister,
the dysfunction in his marriage and in the relationship with his
parents—all seem to lead him away from his chosen life of crime.
It is through the voice of Tristan that this story is told and
it is his character that receives any semblance of development.
Good thing, because the story provides an opportunity to was poetic
about Allen Payne. Ever since his role in New Jack City,
he has made us root for the gangster. He speaks volumes with his
increasingly chiseled and mature face and especially his eyes. One
minute, he appears hardened and cold, ready to kill. The next, he
is introspective. You never forget he is a human being with a past
and connections. And while the script does help him in this regard,
Payne takes the role farther than the dialogue.
There is a scene here when Tristan comes upon his wife who he has
just seen conversing with the police in front of their home. Behind
her, he stands in the doorway, silent in a flawless suit (I should
have added that the clothes in gangster flicks have to be all
that). At this moment, Payne looks menacing and spooky and he
plays the scene straddling the line between menace and tenderness
toward his wife.
Though obviously working with a low budget, Ross nonetheless does
a decent job with pacing, creative scenes, dialogue and the soundtrack.
He earns a plus for avoiding the obligatory, gratuitous and usually
tacky sex scene in these g-flicks. Blue Hill Avenue could
be a great flick for a new generation of film-goers who see all
the fine thugs wearing fine suits and toting guns for the first
time. But for me, it's too much been there, done that.
Screened at Acapulco Black Film Festival
2001.
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-- June 21, 2001
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