Simply Perfect

Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

The movie is wildly uneven but lively and timely - in its own surreal way

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The biggest problem with this movie is in real life, the niggard thugs have no conscience or regret. Whatever the film makers thought they were doing, whether they wanted to show a softer side or what, it was a farce. You know the old saying..."art imitates life"? Well if this movie were to imitate life, the bangers would shoot the brother, the sister and the mom. The good-hearted detective would never turn a banger loose for a second chance, never call and warn a banger that one of his own was out to get him and there would never be a SWAT team that saw 3 bangers with guns and only shoot one. And the salacious love scenes? I really don't know how Tia could sink this low. She is a quality actress.

It is difficult to rate a writer/director's first effort. After all, it is one more movie than I have written or directed. James Hunter wrote a story that was interesting, but suffered from an uneven flow.After all, the idea that a man (Ja Rule) has to choose between the thug life and going straight is common, and even falling in love with the daughter (Tatyana Ali) of the man you killed has been done. Doing it again demands something that is original, and originality is lacking in this film.I was drawn by the inclusion of so many favorites: Tia Carrere (Trues Lies, Wayne's World), Pam Grier (Jackie Brown), Frank Langella (Dracula, Good Night and Good Luck), and Ving Rhames (Rosewood, Dawn of the Dead). They did not disappoint in their performances, but they had little to work with.Direct to video is becoming more and more common, but that doesn't mean it has to be a waste of time. Maybe the sophomore effort of Hunter will be more enjoyable.

It was not as bad as SozeTheKeyser said it was. But then, I did not buy it. I saw it as a feature on one of the movie channels on the satellite service I use. I reserve purchasing for more family-oriented films. While this would not have met my criteria for purchasing, it was nonetheless an OK film.Ja Rule did a better-than-most-rappers-turned-actors job on what is apparently his first time out as an actor (in a leading role, no less!). There was another movie I saw on BET with another rapper in the starring role. It truly stunk, and even the merciful breaks from commercials did not save that one. In fact even when I was out of the room hearing the audio, it stunk even worse. "Back In The Day" was not such a stinker by far.Ja Rule did a decent job. Maybe even better than passable. He did not overplay the moments. He seemed to take directing well, which leads to the subject of directing. I think it was a very well directed film, and would like to see more from James Hunter. Even though he had some real power hitters to work with, there seemed to be a good gel among the actors that made the writing of Mr. Hunter and Michael Raffanello credible.It was a low budget film. There is no doubt about that. It was an indie. You put these two together and you get "Back In The Day". There were not the obligatory BOOM! SPLATTER! and ZOOM! that marks so many wannabe blockbusters, but instead the focus was on the story, which while common did bring some surprises that most may not anticipate. I did not, although usually I do. Sometimes it felt like a play without the music. This is not a bad thing, but a comment on the feel of the movie.I think Rhames (one of my top 5 favorite actors), Grier (who could not love this ageless beauty), Morton (my neighbor), Morgan (the dimples I wished I could have married) and Ali (ok, so Ms. Grier has competition) all did a wonderful job. This was far from a "paying the bills" project as I am sure that all of these in-demand actors can live very well off the residuals of their past work.That is all from me on "Back in The Day". It was not a film that I would purchase for my personal library, but if I see it in the TV listings again, I would watch it. I love morality plays that are honest yet sensitive. One thing I noticed in this film, which many lack, especially those surrounding Black characters,was the respect given to role of Christianity and its more conscientious leaders in the community. I appreciated the lack of hyperbolic and rhetorical dialog and character stereotypes. I would like to thank the writers, director and actors for a decent "B" movie.

o dear god i suffered having to watch this film FOUR times in my sisters house and was it dreadful a story of sex and guns and very cheap unexplained acting unless you are at gunpoint being told to watch this avoid it Ja Rule just proved he cannot act Ving Rhames also gave the most dreadful acting ever in any of his films there was not one part of this film made me laugh or make me jump or feel any emotion i would be surprised people actually enjoyed this i have seem some dreadful films in my life but this would be in my five worst films ever the music in it wasn't good and the storyline i think was made up by a couple of guys who ordered a pizza and just sat down wrote ten bullet points and then made it into a film absolutely dreadful