Review: "Never Die Alone" Uneven, but Inspired

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 132 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Never Die Alone (2004)
Running time:  88 minutes (1 hour, 28 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violence, drug use, sexuality and language
DIRECTOR:  Ernest Dickerson
WRITER:  James Gibson (based upon the novel by Donald Goines)
PRODUCERS:  Alessandro Camon and Earl Simmons (DMX)
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Matthew Libatique
EDITOR:  Stephen Lovejoy
COMPOSER:  George Duke
Black Reel Awards nominee

CRIME/DRAMA

Starring:  DMX, David Arquette, Michael Ealy, Drew Sidora, Antwon Tanner, Luenell Campbell, Clifton Powell, Tommy “Tiny” Lister, Aisha Tyler, Jennifer Sky, Reagan Gomez-Preston, and Art Evans

Never Die Alone is a 2014 crime drama from director Ernest R. Dickerson.  The film is based on the late author, Donald Goines' 1974 novel of the same name.  Starring rapper DMX, Never Die Alone the film focuses on a drug kingpin whose return home touches off a turf war.

After a small-time drug kingpin known as King David (DMX) is murdered, Paul (David Arquette), a young white reporter who witnessed the murder and brought King David to the hospital where he died, decides to investigate the circumstances leading up to King’s death.  Paul wants to use that as research for a investigative report that he hopes will get him a newspaper job, but David’s death also sets off a small, but very violent turf war.

As Paul listens to King David’s audiotape journal (heard as a voice-over narration that frames the film) which depicts King David’s rise, his hopes for the future and for redemption, and (unbeknownst to him) the final hour of his life, people are dying in an ever increasingly violent conflict.

Directed by Ernest Dickerson, Never Die Alone is a gritty, vulgar, violent, entertaining, and ultimately quite poignant crime drama.  Sadly, the film had a somewhat limited theatrical release and the studio never really gave it a chance to catch on; hopefully, many viewers will discover it on home video.

Two things work against Never Die Alone being a great film.  The first is that the film is really three movies.  The first half hour or so is a tension filled street-crime drama with wonderfully intriguing characters who have the all-important element that really sells a story – motivation.  The second film is a flashback of King David’s life, as narrated by his audio journal.  The third is Arquette’s Paul character prowling the streets where King David was murdered in an attempt to feel the gangsta life. On the surface, any of these three would make a good movie if the filmmakers focused on one and fully developed it, especially the first sequence and incidents surrounding King’s death.  Actually, the separation from David’s return and death to move to another story line is quite jarring and, for all its interesting moments afterwards, the film never really recovers from that.

The second thing that really works against the film is DMX’s narration.  It is acceptable that he isn’t a great actor, but the thing for a director to do is to not lean on him so much.  He’s credible as a hood-type, and he can certainly get better over time with more experience as an actor and maybe some acting lessons (like that’s gonna happen).  But the worst thing to give an inexperienced actor is extensive narration duties in a film.  Simply put, the syncopation and rhythm that made DMX such an admired rapper is missing in his narration for Never Die Alone.  That’s bad for this film because so much of King David’s character and about his motivation is told rather than shown.  Sometimes, what DMX is saying comes across as stiff, but to be fair, there are times when he really sells a scene and King David with inspired moments of pure passion.

Warts aside, DMX and David Arquette do fairly good jobs as this film’s stars, but there are some good supporting performances; the best of the lot is Michael Ealy.  Excellent in the Barbershop films, he should have acting jobs pouring in, and we should see him more.  Just as talented as a slew of young stars like Orlando Bloom, Ashton Kutcher, and Heath Ledger, I wonder why we don’t see Ealy more.

6 of 10
B

NOTES:
2005 Black Reel Awards:  1 nomination: “Best Director” (Ernest R. Dickerson)

Edited: Wednesday, February 3, 2016

The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

Review: A Bag of "Bones" (Happy B'day, Snoop Dogg)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 151 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Bones (2001)
Running time: 96 minutes (1 hour, 36 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence/gore, language, sexuality and drugs
DIRECTOR: Ernest Dickerson
WRITERS: Adam Simon and Tim Metcalfe
PRODUCERS: Rupert Harvey, Peter Heller, and Lloyd Segan
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Flavio Labiano (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Michael N. Knue and Stephen Lovejoy
COMPOSER: Elia Cmiral
Black Reel Awards nominee

HORROR with elements of fantasy

Starring: Snoop Dogg, Pam Grier, Michael T. Weiss, Clifton Powell, Ricky Harris, Bianca Lawson, and Khalil Kain

I held out no hope for rapper Snoop Dogg’s horror film vehicle, Bones. It was released in 2001, but I didn’t see it until two years later. When I finally saw it, I found Bones surprisingly entertaining, if a bit hokey and poorly written.

I also learned that Ernest Dickerson directed the film. Dickerson came to prominence in the late 80’s and 90’s as Spike Lee’s cinematographer on Lee’s first five full-length features including Do The Right Thing and Malcolm X. He made his directorial debut with the fairly well received urban drama Juice, about a group of friends and their trouble with a pistol. Dickerson later showed a deft touch for horror films with the delightful Demon Knight, a film version of the HBO series “Tales from the Crypt.” Sadly, Bones, although mildly entertaining, lacks Demon Knight’s sense of mad glee and hilariously evil hijinx.

Snoop plays Jimmy Bones, a low-key gangster, pimp type, and godfather of an inner city neighborhood in 1979. When he refuses an offer to join the drug trade, the dealers shoot him and force his associates and baby mama to participate in the killing. 22 years later, his angry spirit returns after some suburban kids buy his playa mansion and turn it into a club.

Bones isn’t that bad, but it isn’t too good. It’s lost somewhere in the middle of mediocrity. The characters all have potential, especially in regards to their socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds, but the filmmakers sacrifice them to violence and trite special effects, many of the effects old when Clive Barker used that kind of SFX in his early Hellraiser films.

Snoop does most of acting with a perpetual scowl etched across his face. Still, he has excellent screen presence, and makes a good bad guy when he’s given (I don’t know, maybe) depth and subtext. It really would have been nice had Dickerson approached this film with the same sense of fun and funny mayhem that made Demon Knight such a charmingly trashy fright flick.

4 of 10
C

NOTES:
2002 Black Reel Awards: 1 nomination: “Theatrical - Best Actress” (Pam Grier)

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