G (2002)

Great Film overall

An action-packed slog

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

I have no gripe about this movie. The plot is an adaptation of what The Great Gatsby, which I love.Anyone who says that the beginning gives away the end, probably has attention deficiency disorder and didn't pay attention to the actual story. There were many instances in which you suspect the movie would end with the opening scene, but it just didn't.And I don't agree with anyone saying that the characters are "stereotyped." There are many types of blacks portrayed in this movie, from the "straight from the ghetto and 'real' about it" to the reserved, cool "gangsters" to the type that wants to conform to "higher" society. The rowdiness and uncouthness of the people in Summer G's party are necessary in keeping the feeling of the book The Great Gatsby, where the newly-rich in Gatsby's party are unaware of the etiquette of blue-blood society.And to those who said "there is no hip hop," I believe that I did hear some rap/hiphop played several times throughout the movie. You don't expect to have an entire music video film, do you? Overall, I thought this movie was great. There was some arguably unnecessary material sprinkled throughout the film, but it should definitely get higher than a 4.4.

Cherot's earlier film, "Hav Plenty", was one of my favorite movies. The chemistry between Cherot and Maxwell's characters in "Hav Plenty" was magical, albeit also disturbing in some ways. Hav (Maxwell's character) was a self-admitted freak and you find yourself asking why can't D. Money look past her breath-taking physical beauty and see the darkness within? But, this review is about Cherot's later movie, "G". It was a big disappointment. I rented it from Blockbuster immediately after noticing Chenoa Maxwell starred in it. I didn't even notice that it was another Cherot movie until after I watched it ... twice. The significance of that fact is that I was thinking "G" suffered from not having Cherot as the director, then I found out this was a Cherot film. Uh-oh.This movie has two problems. One is the weak script. The entire premise is 100% unbelievable. Rappers in the Hamptons? Come on. Maybe, this could have been pulled off as a comedy, but as drama the premise is ill-conceived.This movie has so much potential. Blair Underwood nails his character, as always. And, Richard T. Jones manages to tone down his obvious comedic skills and delivers a leading man whose charisma is all the more impressive when you realize he convinces us that Sky (Maxwell's character) should be with him instead of the brother every sister in the world would love to wake up next to, Blair Underwood. Pay attention to the second scene in which we see Summer G. (Jones' character). You sense everything you need to know about Summer G. before he evens says a word. Jones' acting is that deep in this movie. It is, by far, his best work I have seen to date.Problem number two is Chenoa Maxwell. Chenoa Maxwell is one of the finest sisters on the planet. That, in itself, is enough to convince most men, and more women than you might think, to see this movie. But, she, apparently, is an actress who needs quite a bit of help from her director. She was so fascinating in "Hav Plenty". But, in "G" she appears, well, amateurish. And, I say that as a fan who sincerely wants to see her do well. I couldn't help being drawn to her character in the episodes she played in "Girlfriends". She played opposite Golden Brooks, another sister with drop dead gorgeous looks. Yet, when the two had a scene together, I found myself drawn to Maxwell's character. But, "G" is the worst work I have seen yet from Maxwell.I always saw Chenoa Maxwell playing a role. I never saw Sky, the character Chenoa was supposed to be portraying. Chenoa doesn't look comfortable with this role. In her love scene with Jones, he is buck naked, oblivious to the rest of the world, only into Sky. But, Sky isn't there. Instead, there is Chenoa, more concerned about what body parts not to show than of losing herself in G.s embrace. I can respect a sister deciding not to show her body on camera. But, a sister with those sort of values should not have accepted this role.I think , when it comes to love scenes, the actors have to put all personal inhibitions aside and immerse themselves in their characters. It it then up to the director to tastefully edit out shots which are not flattering. If you don't trust your director to do that, you can not give your character your whole heart and soul. Halle Berry had to do this in "Monster's Ball". In her infamous love scene with Billy Bob Thornton's character, Halle is nowhere to be found. At that moment, the only woman in the room is Leticia Musgrove. Yes, it annoys me that White Folks picked that particular story to come up, finally, with another best actress award for a sister. But, Chenoa could learn a lot from Halle's work in "Monster's Ball". Think back to the last scene of "Monster's Ball", when Halle's character told us so much without ever saying one word. Now, that was the level of talent we needed to see from my girl Chenoa.Chenoa, please, sister woman, at some point, if you intend to take this acting thing to the next level, you have to be willing to move further from Chenoa and closer to the character you are playing. Embrace her, take chances, even chances that you personally might be a little uncomfortable with. I, for one, know you have it in you.But, if your personal value system is not compatible with the whole Hollywood acting scene, to the point where you decide being Chenoa is more important than being an actress, I ain't mad at cha. I have no doubt you could be a success at anything else you put your head to. But, whatever you choose to do, do it with all your mind, heart, soul, and body.Istlota

It was good to see Chenoa Maxwell, the girl from Have Plenty, in this movie. Why was every character in this movie a jerk? Why did that crazy guy kill Sky at the end of the movie? He should have killed that Phillipine man who took his fly friend from him. And speaking of his fly friend, that was some on the most monotonous acting I have ever seen in my entire life! Blair Underwood was a lucky man. He got to cheat on his wife with a fly woman and get with a fly woman! And his wife did the exact same thing! She cheated on him with an ex boyfriend who happens to be a record executive. And what was the point of putting Sky's cousin Tracy in this movie. He was pointless throughout the movie. And the "rapper" who tried to talk to the fly lady with children. There were so many stereotypes in this movie! And we should have known that the cigarette smoking lady was going to sing a solo at Sky's funeral.

...but no cigar. I go into all films with the highest of hopes...and the lowest of expectations. (For the record, I see about 200 films per year. At my own expense. I'm a screenwriter and this is part of my ongoing education.) Most times, I'm disappointed. (However, I've had three great film experiences in the past two weeks and I'm expecting to see two of the year's best over the next three days.)'G' was a disappointment. I'm not going to go into particulars of plot and spoil it for anyone, but what I will say is that if there's any 'connection' between this film and the world of hip-hop, it's a reliance on style. That is, 'bombastic' gets the job done. Now, before anyone accuses me of dissin' hip-hop, I'm not. I wouldn't claim to know enough about the music to have a credible opinion. But certainly the music videos, the marketing, the press, the 'lifestyle' implies that -it would be easy to believe- having the bling does the thing. (Yes, I know the music transcends the attitude.) Here, basic storytelling precepts were thrown out the window and a reliance was placed on the arena of hip-hop with the parties and the cars and the jewellery. There was so little going on in this film...and when something did go on, it was either convoluted, lacking proper motivation, or was completely out of perspective. For the record, the acting was fine. The production values were great. But the script... Yes, there were a couple of funny moments. But there was nothing to either grab onto, or to grab you. The story was not engaging at all. The characters -though all very, very beautiful and handsome- didn't pique your curiosity. You knew where everything was going to end up. And the screenwriter/director should be reminded of the fact that what people say doesn't define their personalities. What they *do* tells us who and what they're like. There was way too much posturing in this film; fine for hip-hop videos, where most everything these days seems to be a parody of itself, but not for a motion picture. The rules are completely different. What this film needed was more exploration of who the characters were, where they'd been and what really was at stake with the decisions that ended up being made, because in the end, it was 'a tempest in a teapot'. A 24 carat gold one, of course. I'm sad that so much effort went into this production and so little passion ended up on the screen. I'm especially sad that this wasn't a better vehicle for Richard T Jones, someone that I think has a lot more potential than Jamie Foxx or Will Smith. Oh, well. Onto the next film, eh?