Matrixston
Wow! Such a good movie.
VividSimon
Simply Perfect
Contentar
Best movie of this year hands down!
Ezmae Chang
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Leofwine_draca
Considering DMX's previous movie fare – which typically paired him with martial arts stars – I was expecting this to be an action flick. Well, in some ways it is – there are a ton of bloody shoot-outs and it partly follows the classic revenge drama formula – but in other ways, NEVER DIE ALONE surprises, exploring DMX's character in some detail and taking a downbeat look at the life of a drug dealer. DMX takes a role a little heavier than he's used to, and he's very good in the part, a really hateful character that you can nevertheless understand. The supporting cast is also pretty good, excepting David Arquette, who's hopeless as usual.Sadly, NEVER DIE ALONE's subject matter is ultimately depressing, whilst the revenge drama is just too clichéd to be any good. The only good scene in the whole movie is the bit where a thug finds himself distracted by dollar notes which come floating down the alleyway towards him – an original and fun moment in a film otherwise devoid of laughter.
vchimpanzee
The movie starts with King David in a casket.Then he starts telling us about his life. He came to Los Angeles to start his life over. Two days earlier, Moon needed Mike and Blue to collect some money from him.Something goes terribly wrong, and David is left lying in the street. Paul, a white writer with a black girlfriend (Nancy), couldn't just let him die. On the way to the hospital, David pleads with Paul to tell his son his story. Interestingly, Paul was living the life of a black man, while Nancy seemed to have rejected her culture (I'm basing this on one scene, but we never got to know her) and disapproved of his living in that world, but Paul felt he had to in order to write what he wanted.Paul finds out from a hospital worker that David had rewarded him by leaving him everything--lots of cash, jewelry, and a nice car. And cassette tapes with his autobiography.As Paul listens to the tapes, we see the events described. Once again, David says he is starting over in Los Angeles. In a scene with three bikini beauties, Paul meets blonde white actress Janet. She becomes the first of his girlfriends that we see. With her connections, and the fact that no one on the west coast has quality merchandise, David becomes a major drug dealer. David meets Juanita, a waitress studying to be a social worker, so Janet is tossed out like yesterday's trash. And she's not making it as an actress, so guess what she does for a living? Poor Juanita. And wait until you see what he does to Edna, who may have had his baby.To say David is not a nice person is a major understatement. But he's so charming that women want to be his girlfriend. Then they find out what he's really like.Why would I watch this movie? I'm white and a few months older than Barack Obama. These days, I'll watch anything I haven't seen. At least I'll get it over with. But for me personally, the movie had a few redeeming qualities.I won't say there's music for every taste. No classical, rock, or country. But nearly every style of jazz is represented. Some examples include muted trumpet with a rap beat, muted trumpet without a rap beat, a beautiful vocal performance in a club, and piano jazz in a nice restaurant. Of course there is gangsta rap. Two rap songs played for the closing credits are actually catchy, even for me.And then there is the bartender at The Blue Room. She has the same edgy charm that made her so appealing on an episode of My Network's "Tony Rock Project". At least I think that's her.The crazy judge from "Boston Legal" is a funeral director, but he's on very briefly and doesn't speak. That's a shame.DMX delivers a very good performance. Like I said, his character is not a nice man at all. And yet you sort of want to like him. You won't when you find out about him.Some unusual camera and editing techniques should be mentioned. One act of violence is shown from the victim's point of view. We see what he sees. In the scene with Edna everything is green or blue and seems to move in slow motion. The bikini babes disappear gradually as we jump forward in time several times from David's arrival to his first conversation with Janet.Of course I saw this on a My Network station, so the sound went out many times and the mouth of the character speaking was blurred. Something tells me I should be very glad of that. Once (I mention this because it could happen to you) the sound of dialogue went out for no apparent reason though I could hear music. The violence wasn't as bad as it could have been.I have a feeling this was a story worth seeing.
Bronze Trinity
I must say I was surprised by this film! I thought it would be another film about 'shooting em up' or something. Actually I had never even heard of this movie before I watched it.It stars DMX as a drug dealer named "King David" and the movie starts out with him in a coffin. Then it explains how he got there. He was a really, really, bad guy. David Arquette is an aspiring writer who finds King David after he was stabbed. King David left the writer his car and belongings to repay him. The writer finds tapes he made during the last few months of his life.The movie really is about how what we do affects so many people. If you choose to treat someone badly, they will do the same to others and it will come back on you. It was so true in this case. A movie that is really worth seeing. If you like banger movies with a message (not glorifying violence) I also recommend South Central, Jason's Lyric, and of course, Boyz in the Hood. I heard that DMX is quitting the music business and sticking to movies. I think he might do alright with the movie thing. Special Feature: See what happens to good girl Azaria (Drew Sidora) from 'The Parent Hood'!
marbleann
It was my birthday and I was snowed in. I was bored to tears, nothing was on TV. So I went to one of those Direct channels and picked 2 movies. One was a Man Apart with Vin Deisal a terrible movie and the other was this movie. I was pleasantly surprised. THis was a very entertaining movie. Not a Oscar winner but very good. It is about a ex drug kingpin name King David who is back in town trying to repent for his sins. Well he gets killed before he can. No surprise because the first thing we see on the screen is him in a casket. The story picks up because when he was killed a reporter( David Arquette) was at the scene and tried to help him. In return King David gives him all of his worldly possessions, one being a stack of cassettes King David made of his past life. His tapes are the story. We get flashbacks of his former life. Yeah he was a son of a gun. A man who obviously hates women so much that he makes them into dope fiends, basically he turns them out. I actually knew guys like that. One he falls in love with but he is upset because he considers it being a weak trait and he rebels against the girlfriend, who seems to have a good head on he shoulder until she asks to snort some coke. You see these are the girls bad guys love and the guys good girls love. In any case she threatens him at one time to go to the cops. Dumb move because earlier we saw what happened to a woman who had made the same threat. I am not going to give away the twist. The movie was very good. DMX is good and so was his supporting players. I really wasn't expecting much but I got a lot. I would recommend this movie to anyone who wants to be entertained.