Fresh

Released:  August 24^th, 1994

Rated:  R

Distributor:  Miramax

Starring:  Sean Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, Samuel L. Jackson, N’Bushe Wright

Directed by:  Boaz Yakin

Written by:  Boaz Yakin

Personal Bias Alert:  likes surprises, likes Giancarlo Esposito

7.5 of 10

            Fresh startles from beginning to end.  It’s an unusual story with an unusual protagonist:  a 12-year-old kid from New York City who’s already knee-deep in the drug business, but he’s neither a thug nor an idiot.  In fact, he’s a rather shrewd boy, and it’s easy to imagine how he got to the film’s starting point.  There was certainly some surveying, an evaluation of his environment and the possible exits routes, and a decision to go with the most consistent path.  That drugs happen to be his ticket out isn’t his fault; American society doesn’t give a poor African-American kid many viable options, and he handles his chosen occupation with such professionalism that any business owner would be impressed, not least of all the local drug kingpins that employ him.  Perhaps it’s this trademark approach that landed him the nickname Fresh, or maybe it’s just his young face.  Either way, his bosses see a bright future for the boy, but he envisions an even brighter one for himself.

            Sean Nelson, who couldn’t have been much older than his character when filming, pulls off Fresh’s self-confident intelligence without making him precocious.  It’s a fine line, but an imperative one for the film to get right.  For Fresh to live the way he does, he must be seen as an adult amongst adults, not a child tagging along.  His friend Chuckie (Luis Lantigua) falls well short of this line, and the film reveals how badly things can go for a kid in this world.  No, this isn’t the kind of movie that flinches.  The darkness of Fresh’s environment is on full display, made all the more disturbing by its reality, its lack of exaggeration.  This was New York City in the early ‘90s, with the minorities clustered to the side and left to bear the brunt of the raging crack epidemic.  Fresh’s involvement in the business doesn’t mean he approves of using drugs for reasons that become starkly clear, and this dichotomy is what drives the film to its unexpected conclusion.

            Where the film does end up going isn’t for me to reveal; that’s something best left for you to experience.  It’s remarkable, looking back, how you don’t see it coming.  The foreshadowing is staring you in the face, but there’s this boy there, too, in nearly every frame.  His soft face lowers your expectations a bit, making the film’s unraveling all the more thrilling.  However, it’d be wrong to say that the ending entirely makes sense.  It’s strays a bit from the rest of the film’s gritty realness, employing movie moments to make the whole thing work, but that’s a forgivable sin when you factor in how far Fresh takes you.  There has to be some hope at the end of all this grimness, and the world wasn’t exactly set up to give him a way out.  A bit of fancy at the end, as long as it continues to hold its character’s responsible for their actions, can serve as a kind of pointed catharsis.  It gives us a place we would like to get to, but also emphasizes how far we still need to go to get there.

            This is an impressively smart film for Boaz Yakin’s first outing as writer and director, but there are several small failings that gnaw away at the film’s greatness.   Most notable are some dreadful performances by the young cast members, who’s forced line delivery and lack of presence sticks out when compared to the superbly executed scenes between Nelson and the adult cast (which includes the likes of Samuel L. Jackson and Giancarlo Esposito).  The bare-bones editing is another major sign of Yakin’s freshness, feeling more in line with television’s churned out simplicity than with film’s more stylish approach.  Other small technicalities build on this lack of flair, making the film slightly stilted in a way that doesn’t enhance the overall tone.  With the exception of the kid acting, these aren’t major concerns, but having several off-kilter elements does slowly add up to a less-than-perfect film.

            In spite of these problems, Fresh is still well worth seeking out.  It’s got a true sense of existing in the real world, where outcomes for even a smart kid like Fresh could take you in radically different directions, and the mystery of where it’s all going is a thrilling one to see play out.

Other Notes:

Ø  I must give an animal abuse warning for those who are sensitive to such things.

Ø  The music was mixed rather loud in the Netflix version I was watching.

Ø  Even in this age of antiheros, Fresh is probably one of the youngest ones you can find.