Customer Reviews

New Jersey Drive

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a well studied cautionary tale about the potential perils of car crime. Newark in New Jersey had a reputation in the mid-90s for all kinds of car crimes including carjacking at gunpoint and this film cleverly taps into that era. There was talk about lines being crossed by Newark police officers back then and the movie takes a look at that also. I found it difficult sometimes to decide where to place my sympathies. Yes, the car crime itself is mindless and destructive as anyone who has had their car stolen will know but in the movie, the police often come off looking no better than the criminals they are pursuing.

Gabriel Casseus and Sharron Corley give very impressive performances as Midget and Jason respectively. If you're a car enthusiast like me and, like me, you didn't see this movie when it first came out back in 1995, you might feel the cars (which are important characters in this movie as well) date it somewhat but it's not overwhelming. The best thing about this movie for me though is that although it doesn't preach or moralise, it shows very clearly that for young black men, a life of crime can only lead to a limited number of conclusions. That said, when tragedy inevitably ensues, it's still very sad.

Props to director Nick Gomez - he often gets us right into the cars and takes us along for the joyrides - and props to Spike Lee and his 40 Acres & A Mule filmworks for executive producing the movie. I'll be watching this one again and again.

Banging soundtrack as well, by the way. I might actually get it on CD...

I purchased this movie for my teenager son, hoping he could see the harsh reality of what could happen to him following the wrong crowd. This movie showed all the basics and then some.

despite what others might claim, this is not just a movie about stealing cars. it is about the oppression that young black males face in new jersey, oppression they face in the majority of the country. it chronicles the corruption that runs rampant throughout north american police departments, in this case, the newark police. this is a good movie whether you want to watch car chases and life in the hood or if you can appreciate the less in your face message of inequality and discrimination.

This Is A Study Of A Ghetto Youth Whose Main Thrill In Life Is Riding Around In Stolen Cars...Though Gritty And Authentic (Being From New Jersey, I Can Attest To This), The Cycle Of Thoughtlessness, Self-Destructiveness And Vindictive Police Brutality Gets Tedious At Times...All In All, A Great Film, And An Accurate Look At The Streets Of Central Jersey...

TO ANYONE WITH A NEGATIVE OPINION ON THIS MOVIE, MY THOUGHTS TO YOU ARE THAT YOU CAN NOT RELATE TO IT!!! THIS MOVIE REMINDED ME SO MUCH OF MY YOUTH IN BUFFALO AND QUEENS, NEW YORK DURING THE 90'S. THE WAY THEY WERE INTO CARS WAS THE WAY I WAS INTO GUNS. WITHOUT BOASTING I HAVE SHOT 4 PEOPLE BY THE AGE OF 17. BY THE AGE OF 21 I HAD A TOTAL OF 5 1/2 YEARS OF INCARCERATION IN THE JUVENILE AND ADULT PRISON SYSTEM. I TURNED MY LIFE AROUND IN PRISON AND SAW THE TRUTH ABOUT WHAT THAT LIFE WAS REALLY ABOUT.I AM NOW 30 YEARS OF AGE AND I HAVE NOT RETURNED TO THE STREETS OR TO PRISON. I HAVE A SUN, AGE 2 AND I WILL DEFINITELY SHOW THIS MOVIE TO HIM WHEN THAT TIME COMES. WHATEVER MORAL MESSEGE THAT IS LACKING IN THE MOVIE I WILL ENLIGHTEN HIM. IF YOU HAVE NOT LIVED THE URBAN EXPERIENCE YOU WOULD NOT UNDERSTAND THIS MOVIE SO PLEASE LEAVE THE NEGATIVE CRITICS IN YOUR HEAD. NEW JERSEY DRIVE IS A GREAT FILM.

Indeed. Jason Petty (Sharron Corley) is a young guy with a group of teenage friends who spend most of their time in the ghettos of New Jersey stealing cars, crashing them, sitting around on streetcorners drinking, and harassing women. Like an African American version of "The Basketball Diaries", only a little more low key, this movie is subtle, harsh dose of cultural reality--the underbelly of society which most of us care not to acknowledge even while our tax money is directed toward keeping it the underbelly of society.

Neither the cops nor the "protagonists" in the film are saints and director Nick Gomez does a brilliantly understated job of making that clear. Consistently putting their own lives and the lives of others in danger by jacking cars like pathetic, city borne pirates, not much of an effort is made to explain why they behave this way other than, well, they come from the ghetto.

A quietly titanic battle ensues between the police and Jason's buddies ensue when the authentically sinister cop "Roscoe", looking like some Italian football player who was popular in high school for all the wrong reasons and then signed up for the force expecting the same kind of power, opens fire on a stolen car when it is parked and mortally wounds one of Jason's friends. He knew exactly what he was doing and despite Jason being a blatant thug and criminal, he is determined to get some kind of vengeance on this petty little monster, as are his friends. The whole film you sort of expect Jason or one of the gang to actually shoot the guy (he wouldn't be too far from deserving it, as he regularly beats, harasses, and humiliates them in interrogation rooms) but Gomez is too smart for those kind of melodramatics. This is an ugly situation and a war that has no real purpose. It isn't so much about racism as it is about the behavior that results from living in an impoverished, hopeless environment. After going in and out of prison a couple of times and getting regular beatings from the self appointed Rambo of the force, a grand jury is opened and Jason testifies despite the threat to his life. You could say the conflict ends pretty evenly and both parties ultimately lose.

The emptiness of street life, willed aimlessness, and the superficiality of Jason's best buddies are given a nearly perfect expose here. At one point, Jason has a physical confrontation with his "best friend", and apparently the guy takes it so much to heart that he is willing to take potshots at him with a gun. The next day, when he relates this to his friend "Midget" (Gabriel Casseus, who with his boyish charm and deadly shark grin is nearly as menacing as Roscoe), he laughs about it and considers it no "big thang". He looks for the same camaraderie from Midget when he is under serious pressure from the authorities, and Midget waves him off and tells him that he has to take care of his aunt.

This is a powerful movie, despite the somewhat "unpleasant" nature of the subject matter. One feels compelled to keep watching it, despite the ugliness and the desolation, because we've all been where Jason has in one sense or another. Unfortunately though, Jason's situation is material and a lot harder to work out of then a case of the blues every once in awhile. Brilliant.

This was a good classic urban film i have been looking for a long time to get. Good action scenes and driving in it.

Jason and Midget are two young, black teenagers living in Newark, New Jersey, the unofficial car theft capital of the world. Their favourite pastime is that of everybody in their neighbourhood: stealing cars and joyriding. The trouble starts when they steal a police car and the cops launch a violent offensive that involves beating and even shoo- ting suspects. This movie is very good, it actually is like a good wine, it gets better the more you watch it. The pace is pretty slow for such a high octane topic, but the cinematography is beautiful and surreal. There is also one great performance in Gabriel Casseus performance of the character "Midget". He is terrific. If you haven't seen this movie you should.

No, this movie is not "da dopest car movie evah" or anything like that. I am a huge fan of films about Black-America, being that some of my favorites are Menace, Boyz, Lean on me, and many more. However, Let's be honest, there is nothing that is that great about this movie. It doesn't have much of a plot that will really hold you down and make you want to watch, and the acting is, average at best. I will say though that the acting of the police officers is horrible.

This movie could have been something much more, had they tried to make you want to watch it for more than what it is, just people stealing cars. I doubt many people will see this film that live outside of New Jersey, but it is an accurate portrayal of life in Newark, so for that I commend it. But if you want to see a great movie, I suggest looking elsewhere. If you are just in the mood to watch cars being stolen and enjoy the action, then this movie might be for you.

this film was absoutly wow,yee,hell ya.a boy named jason is a person who hags about boys who steals cars all the time{even cop cars}he starts getting badder and badder until hes faced to go to jail.This film was a good long film,even though in my country it wasn't popular i think it deserves a award