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Blerd Film Club: Fresh (1994)

"The more people there is, the lonelier it get."

Starring: Sean Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, Samuel L. Jackson, N'Bushe Wright
Director: Boaz Yakin
Writer: Boaz Yakin

In 1994 the film Fresh was released marking the debut of Boaz Yakin as a director and the third film that he had written after The Punisher (1989) and The Rookie (1990). Reception of the film was moderate at best. Some critics loved it, and others hated it for the same reason. Additionally it didn't exactly draw in theater goings yet it remains a well known film. While some view it as a classic in the same light as Do The Right Thing others don't acknowledge it's existence.


The film follows Michael, a 12 year old boy nicknamed Fresh. He's concerned with general 12 year old things. He's got a crush on a girl named Rosie, he's always late to school and he feels like nobody really cares about. He thinks The Punisher could beat the X-Men. The difference is Fresh is also a drug runner and occasional dealer. Things start out well for Fresh and the biggest problems he has are his friend Chuckie asking to be introduced, an older drug dealer Jake trying to short him money and figuring out how to talk to Rosie.

Things begin to take a turn for the worse when Jake kills a classmate and friend of Fresh named Curtis at a basketball court because he was embarrassed by a child, killing Rosie in the process as well. Additionally Fresh's sister is hooked on drugs and sleeping with a drug dealing rival of Esteban who Fresh works for. After a game of chess with his father Fresh begins to plot his exit from the projects.

Initially this involved going into business himself using his life savings to purchase $5000 worth of cocaine. This doesn't go well, he's robbed and yet another friend dies. His next attempt sees him get his friend Chuckie involved with running drugs as well. This leads to Chuckie's death as well. Eventually Fresh is kidnapped and forced to think fast putting multiple drug organizations at odds with each other through a series of lies and wiping out all of his enemies.

Story wise, the first half is beautifully written. The second half can be a little unbelievable. I understand why. It's a two hour film so thing have to move fast similar to a chess game on the clock. It makes sense as Fresh's father Sam explains multiple times, "put the clock on, put the show on speed and I'll tear his ass up." The speed can be an issue and a little unbelievable that a 12 year old would out smart a dozen or so experienced drug dealers, some with over a decade of experience. But, based on the lessons his father was driving home about thinking fast it makes it just a little believable that Fresh could do it because he thinks fast.

There's not really anything ground breaking in the cinematography of the film. But, there are a few moments that remind you of Do The Right Thing, which had been released 5 years earlier. Moments where there's no voice lines just the hands of characters doing the talking or just their shoes. One scene in particular seems a lot like Do The Right Thing. In the film there's a scene where Fresh sells drugs and each drug deal quickly spins out to the next deal never showing the full scene similar to the cuts in Do The Right Thing when moments like dance breaks would be included or people would yell racial slurs at the camera.


There isn't a lot to say about most actors in the film because like Fresh sees them, they're simply pawns without many lines. Three characters had more lines than anyone. The first was Sam Jackson as Fresh's father, also named Sam. Sam was a great character. He was clearly a father who didn't really understand how to be a father. In his appearances he taught Fresh what he could about life through chess and didn't have much to give him. There was the trademark Sam Jackson yelling at some points but for the most part it was an odd role where he was mostly talking gently with Fresh trying to be a father, knowing he wasn't much of a man.

Then there's Giancarlo Esposito who plays Esteban. You might recognize the name as another drug dealer. Years later Esposito would receive praise for his work as another drug dealer, Gus Fring in Breaking Bad. The thing here is, he plays a completely different kind of drug dealer. Gus was a quiet man who concealed his operation and avoided a flashy lifestyle. Esteban is a boastful and bashful man who doesn't shy away from being flashy. He keeps a home an an apartment, both with gaudy furnishings. He has multiple cars and thinks nothing of tossing one in a river. It's weird to see a younger Esposito in this role but he plays it well. Maybe it's because I've seen him as Gus Fring that there's an extra layer of fear he gives off, because I associate Gus' violence with the character of Esteban who prefers to avoid any violence.


Lastly there's Sean Nelson as Fresh. He didn't have to do much acting throughout the film other than pretend to be a dumb kid. At least it would seem that way on the surface. But, watching the film there's little giveaways that Fresh does care. He's got tells for when he is thinking and there are moments where he portrays a kid who doesn't understand the situation. When Jake kills Curtis, everyone runs and Fresh is frozen in the moment. When he finally regains his senses he walks over to Rosie and helps her cover her wound to no avail and continues holding long after it's clear that she has died. That actually shows great skills because there are adult actors who can't handle scenes like that. Sometimes it's hard for an actor to portray emotion but it can be equally hard to portray a lack of emotion or more challenging to portray a numbness.

It's a dark film, but the darkest is Fresh himself. Fresh moves people around the board in his head. Always planning one step ahead. That could be admirable. But here's the thing, he doesn't care about anyone but himself and to some extent his sister, but he's willing to use her too. He's twelve and heartless in pursuit of his goals. But the scary thing is, I know why he does it.

Nobody shows Fresh any real love in the film. His aunt Francis takes him in alongside 11 of his other cousins. But the whole family ignores him, unless their harassing him for doing something wrong. He eats dinner with more drug dealers than family members. Even his best friend Chuckie is just using him to get to the money. It doesn't matter if it's drug dealing or fighting the stray dog they took in. That dog is the one thing that Fresh tries to protect because it loves him unconditionally. Even then, after seeing it fight, he's visibly upset. In a world that hasn't shown him what love means, he can't be expected to love anyone.

The one exception is his father who lives in a makeshift trailer with nothing more than a fridge that doesn't run, a bed and some chess boards. He spends time with Michael, even if it's only chess and and eating four week old cake. He's not even supposed to be seeing his father so he uses that as a way to ignore it, but his father is the only one there for him day to day. I think the fact that they play chess is the reason Fresh sets things up the way he does. A chess game he plays against himself with people representing pieces on the board.


There's a few funny moments like "you don't know your fucking dad," but overall this film is what the rapper Tech N9ne refers to as a "melancholy maze." There's no real happiness, and every time you try to run from one bad thing you run into another and there's no real exit to the maze. There is nothing happy to this film. I understand that a lot of people don't like it. The thing is, they just don't understand. I never sold drugs, my sister isn't a drug addict. I don't live in a group home. But, I relate to the senseless violence. Kids getting killed by adults is sadly common ground. Just last week a 1 year was murdered during a drive by in my city, they were trying to kill a 19 year old girl. That's just life for some people, it's sad but not shocking. That's the thing about Fresh it's sad, but it's never shocking.

In reality a lot of people don't just become used to the violence, they're drawn to it. Even if they never commit any violent acts themselves. They can't look away from it. That's not something from the movie, that's just fact. The rapper J. Cole sometimes raps about the idea. Take for example the lyric from his song '2Face' "type of nosy ass niggas to watching the fight until its over, they ran when the gats came out, I moved closer." The whole song could fit the film Fresh. Not just moving closer to the violence, but being enthralled by the villains, never backing down no matter how serious a situation gets, that's Fresh.

In the last scene we see Fresh's father reading the newspaper in shock. Without a doubt he's reading about what Fresh did and his promise to testify. He looks almost shocked to see Fresh and makes up an excuse about waiting for him. It's clear it's an excuse as he fumbles over his words, a man that never falters on anything he says in the film fumbles. Fresh doesn't say anything. He sets up the chess board and freezes, confused tears are falling from his face. The realization of everything hitting him all at once. Neither knows what to do and the film ends.

It's a beautiful ending, because it's real. Sometimes you don't have any regrets or you don't feel grief when you know you should. But it doesn't bother you. Then one day, it all hits you at once. You're flooded with emotions and paralyzed. That's what happened to Fresh. It's such a touching scene because you realize he's not a sociopath like you're led to believe. He's just desensitized to the violence and madness around him. The first moment he has without it all, he's overwhelmed. It wraps up the film perfectly, a beautiful tragedy.

You should buy Darrell's Book, watch him on the Blerds Online YouTube Channel or The CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. 

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