Year:
2000
Studio:
Paramount Pictures
Movie:
3/5
DVD:
2/5
Movie
Who's the black private
dick
that's a sex machine to
all the chicks?
Shaft
Samuel L Jackson plays John Shaft. Perfect casting.
Not *the* John Shaft (played by Richard Roundtree, who also makes an
appearance), but John Shaft's nephew, who happens to have the same
name. Updated for today, Shaft
is a retelling of the story with an eye on a possible series which
apparently didn't pan out. Nevertheless, the first movie is a good
story.
John Shaft is a detective in the NYPD. As we open up the movie, he is
investigating a homicide committed by rich kid Walter Wade Jr
(Christian Bale). There is only one witness, Diane Palmieri (Toni
Collette), but she flees the crime scene and disappears. Wade makes
bail and disappears to Europe.
Two years later we find Shaft still working for the NYPD but
transferred to a drug task force. Vanessa Williams plays his partner,
Carmen Vasquez. Shaft is still the temperamental go-getter and tangles
with local drug lord Peoples Hernandez (Jeffrey Wright).
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But what do
you know? Wade returns to the US and Shaft is there to arrest him.
Diane is still missing and Shaft takes it upon himself to find her
before Wade and his cronies do.
Actors
Samuel L Jackson is one of the hardest working men in Hollywood and a
fine actor to boot. He exudes Shaft-yness. Jeffrey Wright does a great
job as Peoples. A believable almost-three-dimensional character.
Christian Bale seems to be playing a toned down version of his American Psycho character.
DVD
Theatrical trailer. 13-minute cast and crew interviews with a lot of
cutting from one person to the next. 13-minute "Shaft: Still the Man"
making of featurette. "Theme from Shaft" and "Bad Man" music videos. No
commentary.
Recommendation
Shaft is an
entertaining movie. Good for a video rental.
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