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"PAID IN FULL"
(2002) (Wood Harris, Mekhi Phifer) (R)

Alcohol/
Drugs
Blood/Gore Disrespectful/
Bad Attitude
Frightening/
Tense Scenes
Guns/
Weapons
Heavy Extreme Extreme Moderate Extreme
Imitative
Behavior
Jump
Scenes
Music
(Scary/Tense)
Music
(Inappropriate)
Profanity
Moderate Minor Mild *Mild Extreme
Sex/
Nudity
Smoking Tense Family
Scenes
Topics To
Talk About
Violence
Extreme Mild Mild Moderate Extreme


QUICK TAKE:
Drama: Various young men get caught up in the street drug trade of 1980s era Harlem.
PLOT:
It's Harlem in the mid 1980s and Ace (WOOD HARRIS) is trying to live the straight life while watching others get ahead of him via illegal means. He works at a laundromat run by Mr. Pip (CHI McBRIDE), but sees the high lifestyle of his drug dealer friend, Mitch (MEKHI PHIFER), as well as that of another dealer, Calvin (KEVIN CARROLL), who's dating his sister.

Despite his abundant cash flow, Mitch still lives at home where he watches over his 12-year-old brother, Sonny (REMO GREEN), and dislikes having middle-aged freeloader, Ice (RON CEPHAS JONES), hanging around his mother. He wants Alex to join him in the lucrative drug trade, but the only thing Ace is interested in regarding Mitch is his sister, Kiesha (REGINA HALL).

Things change for Ace when he meets Lulu (ESAI MORALES), a sophisticated dealer who gives Ace a laundry tip comprised of cocaine. With Calvin busted and off the scene, Ace hesitantly decides to sell the coke to one of the dealer's clients and thus enters in the business.

With Mitch also off the streets and in prison where he meets and joins forces with the volatile Rico (CAM'RON), Ace suddenly becomes the biggest dealer in the area. Yet, when Mitch, Rico and Calvin are eventually released from prison, they share or want a piece of Ace's action, all of which leads to some unexpected and tragic consequences.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
Those who like gritty urban dramas about drug dealers or are fans of anyone in the cast may be interested in it.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R
For violence, pervasive language, some strong sexuality and drug content.
CAST AS ROLE MODELS:
  • WOOD HARRIS plays an inner-city kid who gives up living and working in a legitimate fashion and soon becomes a powerful and wealthy drug dealer in his neighborhood. He uses strong profanity, and then rethinks his lifestyle after being seriously wounded.
  • MEKHI PHIFER plays his best friend, a dealer before him who loves living the high life. He uses strong profanity, kills others (and serves time for that), and lives like a king.
  • KEVIN CARROLL plays a drug dealer who works in Ace's building and dates his sister. He uses strong profanity.
  • ESAI MORALES plays a foreign drug dealer who hooks up Ace with his drug supply.
  • CHI McBRIDE plays Ace's boss at the Laundromat who tries to teach him about hard work. He smokes cigars and uses some profanity.
  • CAM'RON plays Mitch's new partner that he meets in prison and who becomes known as the volatile enforcer. He uses strong profanity and shoots various people.
  • REMO GREEN plays Mitch's younger brother.
  • REGINA HALL plays Ace's girlfriend who's eventually pregnant.
  • RON CEPHAS JONES plays a middle-aged freeloader who's hanging around Mitch's mother's place, usually high.
  • CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

    HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE


    Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
    Then read OUR TAKE of this film.


    (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).


    OUR WORD TO PARENTS:
    Here's a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated drama. Profanity consists of at least 153 "f" words, while many other expletives and colorful phrases are also used. Some sexually related dialogue is present, while a taped sexual encounter (showing rear entry movement, sounds and nudity) is played for many people to see, while a photograph of a nude woman is also seen.

    Violence includes several people being shot to death (with bloody results) in the movie and in a scene from "Scarface." Other fighting and wounding occurs. Those responsible for such mayhem have bad attitudes, while those scenes and others may be unsettling and/or suspenseful to viewers.

    Various characters drink or smoke, a few appear to be high on drugs, most of the characters are drug dealers, and we see them dealing some of their product.

    If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.


    ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE
  • We see champagne in front of Ace, Mitch and Rico. They later carry that out to a car but throw the bottle into the grass.
  • We see Mitch and Calvin conducting separate drug deals.
  • Ace finds a small packet of drugs left for him in Lulu's clothes. The dealer (who has a drink) later tells him it was a tip.
  • We see a middle-aged man and woman who appear high.
  • Ace ends up unintentionally selling a guy some coke (given to him by Lulu) when Calvin isn't around. Later, Ace goes back to see Lulu to get more drugs (after seeing what kind of money he can make) and the dealer gives him quite a bit of coke to sell.
  • Mr. Pip finds the coke that Ace has been hiding in his business.
  • We see Ace and others cutting up coke, bottling it, and then selling it (we hear him explaining that he sold it cheaper than anyone else so that he could move more product and become the dominant dealer).
  • Some people drink.
  • We see Rico drinking from a bottle.
  • We see a middle-aged man, Ice, with what looks like equipment for shooting up. We then learn that Mitch gave him drugs to sell, but that he used them for himself.
  • BLOOD/GORE
  • Ace and his clothes are extremely bloody after he's attacked and there's blood on bandages as well.
  • A prisoner's neck and hand are rather bloody after a prison fight.
  • We see a dead man in an apartment with a pool of blood around him.
  • Rico shoots another guy in the leg as a warning (with some blood).
  • Ace has some blood on his face after being attacked.
  • Two people are shot dead (we don't see the impact) and we see blood on them and the bed on which they're lying.
  • A guy rides up on a motorcycle and shoots several times into a car, killing the driver (with lots of blood).
  • We see some blood on the wall after a person shoots another person.
  • DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE
  • Those who deal drugs (Ace, Mitch, Rico, Calvin, Lulu, etc.) and/or kill people all have bad attitudes for doing so and breaking the law, etc.
  • Ace develops more of a bad attitude as he deals more drugs (quitting on Mr. Pip, taking all of Lulu's drugs after finding him murdered, etc.).
  • We see that one of the guys has videotaped his sexual encounter with a young woman. As this plays on monitors in some sort of establishment for everyone to watch, we see him having sex with her from behind (with movement and views of her bare breasts). We hear someone say, "That's how you f*ck, nigger."
  • Calvin orders the hit on Ace and two women are murdered.
  • We hear that a person kidnapped a young boy and wants $500,000 or they'll kill him. We then hear that his finger was cut off and sent as proof.
  • One of the dealers shoots one of his own men dead.
  • FRIGHTENING SCENES
  • Scenes listed under "Violence" and/or "Blood/Gore" may also be unsettling to some viewers.
  • GUNS/WEAPONS
  • Handguns: Used to threaten, wound or kill others. See "Violence" for details.
  • We see a specialized car radio with a gun inside it.
  • We see a scene from the movie "Scarface" where many people have machine guns and this is cut in with footage of Mitch and others going in with handguns to take care of someone who's been giving them trouble. We see gunfire in the movie and on the street (with people being hit and killed with bloody results).
  • A goon pulls and holds a handgun on Ace in a restaurant.
  • IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR
  • Phrases: "F*cks me up," "What the f*ck /is wrong with you/are you doing here/you doing/are you laughing at?" "F*ck that," "I'm just f*cking with you," "F*ck it," "F*ck all that," "Where the f*ck?" "(You) f*cked up," "Get the f*ck /out of here/up," "I'll f*cking kill you," "Shut the f*ck up," "Bullsh*t," "This sh*t is real," "(My) Nigger(s)" (said many times by black men), "That's whack," "Bitch" (establishment/man), "Big ass," "Monkey ass," "Hell yeah," "Ain't that a bitch?" "Fly ass," "Dumb ass," "Bitch ass" and "Pull your skirt down" (nonsexual and man to man).
  • The film could inspire some kids to take up drug dealing to make fast money.
  • A bottle is thrown into the grass (littering).
  • Various characters intimidate/threaten, beat and/or kill others to send messages or put them in their victims in their place.
  • JUMP SCENES
  • A sudden gunshot might startle some viewers.
  • MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)
  • A mild amount of such music is in the film.
  • MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)
  • One song has the "s" word in it, the word "niggers" is heard in a song, another has the term "Oh Lord" in it several times, while others have lyrics that can't be understood, thus presenting the possibility of additional, potentially objectionable content being in them.
  • PROFANITY
  • Due to the profanity often coming quite fast and/or occurring during violent scenes, the following should be considered a minimum: At least 153 "f" words (36 used with "mother" and 1 used sexually as is the term 'hitting that"), 68 "s" words, 2 slang terms using female genitals ("p*ssy"), 1 slang term using male genitals ("d*ck"), 27 asses, 14 damns, 2 hells, 3 uses of "Oh Lord" and 1 use each of "G-damn," "God" and "Oh my God" as exclamations.
  • SEX/NUDITY
  • A woman shows cleavage.
  • Calvin asks Ace if he's "hitting that" when referring to Kiesha. He then says that nickel and dime income is "not going to get you that ass." He then says that by making the money he's making (selling drugs), a girl will "suck your d*ck all day."
  • We see a guy looking through a porno magazine that shows a woman with her legs spread and some pubic hair is present.
  • We see that one of the guys has videotaped his sexual encounter with a young woman. As this plays on monitors in some sort of establishment for everyone to watch, we see him having sex with her from behind (with movement, views of her bare breasts and related sounds). We hear someone say, "That's how you f*ck, nigger" and see many more shots of the encounter. There's also talk about getting "p*ssy."
  • We see that Ace's girlfriend is very pregnant.
  • Rico makes a guy strip down to his underwear at gunpoint (nothing explicit).
  • SMOKING
  • Mr. Pip smokes a cigar several times, Rico and Mitch each smoke once, Lulu has a lit cigarette in his place and various miscellaneous characters also smoke.
  • TENSE FAMILY SCENES
  • A person's family members are murdered (but there's little grief on the survivor's part).
  • We hear that a person kidnapped a young boy and see the family's reaction.
  • TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT
  • Drugs, drug use and dealers.
  • Trying to make lots of money in a short amount of time without holding down a real job.
  • Envy.
  • VIOLENCE
  • Ace goes to an apartment, opens the door and is yanked inside (we hear, but don't see the ensuing struggling). We do see him afterwards, however, and he and his clothes are very bloody.
  • We see a scene from the movie "Scarface" where many people have machine guns and this is cut in with footage of Mitch and others going in with handguns to take care of someone who's been giving them trouble. We see gunfire in the movie and on the street (with people being hit and killed with bloody results).
  • Mitch smashes a prisoner in the face with a phone, a person is sliced with something and more fighting ensues (hitting and kicking, etc.).
  • We see a dead man in an apartment with a pool of blood around him.
  • Rico shoots another guy in the leg as a warning (with some blood).
  • Mitch pushes Ice, an older man, backwards (while upset with him). He then grabs him, throttles him a bit and then has him by the neck. He then punches him, pushes him back against a wall and has him by the throat. He then pushes him down the hallway and throws him out the door.
  • Ace goes to an apartment, opens the door and an unseen person yanks him inside. He struggles with and punches one guy but others repeatedly punch and kick him on the floor. They then hold guns on him and we then see that these men have two women tied up -- belly down on the bed -- and guns are held on them. A guy then punches Ace quite hard in the face and a gun is then aimed at the women to make Ace open a safe.
  • Two people are shot dead (we don't see the impact but do see blood on them and the bed on which they're lying).
  • Ace is shot after some struggling and then a person shoots him point blank in the face (he lives but is wounded quite badly).
  • Rico punches a guy in the face and then pulls him from a car. He then has him by the throat, punches him hard and holds a gun to his chin.
  • A guy rides up on a motorcycle and shoots several times into a car, killing the driver (with lots of blood and the woman there screaming).
  • We hear that a person was shot and killed, and we then see a flashback to that incident (with struggling and some shooting, including the gun being held to the victim's head).
  • We see flashes of gunfire behind a door and a person comes out who's wounded (another is arrested).
  • We hear that a kidnapped boy was killed (but don't see it happen).



  • Reviewed October 7, 2002 / Posted October 25, 2002

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