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'Never Die Alone' is without plot distinction
By Chris Hewitt
Friday, Mar 26, 2004 - 12:00:19 am CST
Looks are everything in "Never Die Alone."
Ernest Dickerson's film recycles a cinematic standby - it's narrated by a corpse, telling us how he got that way - but the movie's scuzzy beauty keeps it intriguing. "Never Die Alone" has the grainy, lurid look of a '70s cop show; all the speedy camerawork and acid-tinged primary colors make it the most visually distinctive movie of the year.
The plot is not so distinctive: A bunch of drug lords kill each other. Halfway through the film, "Never" shifts in a surprising way, but the impact of that shift is blunted by the film's dismal treatment of women (next to the men in this film, R. Kelly looks like a gentleman), by its "borrowings" from "Scarface" and by the unpleasantness of the main character, a drug dealer/rapist/murderer played by rapper DMX.
Things really fall apart in the trying-to-have-it-both-ways ending. Heretofore, "Never Die Alone" has glorified violence, especially in a slutty-girl-takes-it-in-the-gut-and-is-blown-backwards shot that is shown three times. The ending attempts to redeem the movie's characters, suggesting they've learned from their missteps.
But, in a movie that has lingered over carnage in a way that suggests "Isn't this cool?" it's a little late to switch to "Isn't this appalling?"
H½
Director: Ernest Dickerson
Stars: DMX
Rated: R (for graphic drug use, brutal violence, raw language and partial nudity)
Now Showing: Plaza
The Reel Story: Rapper DMXplays a drug dealer in this violent film about thug life redeemed only by its gritty cinematography.
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