Once again the UK leads the way... :arrow: http://www.cassmovie.co.uk/ :arrow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHsUpCv7iRU By Paul Heath Optimum Releasing have just sent over the new quad poster and trailer for the upcoming movie CASS, a new Brit flick based on a true story. CASS is the incredible true story of one man’s identity struggle and ultimate redemption. The film follows how a Jamaican orphan baby, adopted by an elderly white couple in 1950's London, changed from being the most feared hooligan in the country to Britain’s best selling black author. CASS grew up in a time before political correctness and as a young child, was forced to endure racist bullying on a daily basis. One fateful day the pent up years of anger surfaced in an explosive burst of violence and from then on, CASS decided he would never be bullied again. Through violence, CASS found the respect he had never had, but he’d become addicted to the buzz of fighting and the power it ultimately gave him. As a boyhood fan of West Ham United, CASS rose through the ranks to become the leader of their hooligan gang, The Intercity Firm (The ICF). Being a six feet five black man in a predominantly white social sphere, CASS was an instantly recognisable target for his adversaries and the authorities. CASS was eventually given the first long term prison sentence for football related violence, when the Thatcher regime made it their main priority to rid the country of the ‘English disease’. After enduring years of racial abuse in childhood, CASS was again faced with the same problem, but now from an element of black prisoners who regarded him as a ‘Choc-Ice’ (black on the outside, white on the inside). On his release, CASS fell in love with ELAINE and tried to change his life, but his violent past eventually caught up with him and he was shot three times at point blank range, as a result of a previous feud with an Arsenal gang. CASS was left with the terrible dilemma; to seek vengeance as the street had taught him, or to renounce his violent past.
There was a movie with Omar Epps, Delroy Lindo et al, that came out some while ago.. Epps plays a gang-banger who turns from a life of crime, to a life of redemption, as he tries to bring together rival gangs and squash their beef, with diplomatic intervention. I'm pointing this out because in the movie, which was based on a true story, he hooks up with a white girl from the other side of the tracks (I think they even got married). The movie is called "Conviction." Maybe you guys posted something about it earlier in another thread.
I would love to see both of those flicks. PJ was there any displays of affection between Epps and the WW?
Review by S. M. Anderson "sma331" (Lithia Springs, GA) This movie is based on a true story about Carl Upchurch(Omar Epps). The movie shows that despite your background, you can make a positive change, and make a difference in other people's lives. The movie starts out showing Upchurch waking up from a dream, and then you flashback into various stages of his life. Philly 1958 shows him with his mother, who does nothing but cuss and fuss at him while getting ready for a date. Flash forward Upchurch is upset one of his friends has been murdered and resorts to violence as payback. In 1974 he is in Milan Federal Prison. He gets out, and ends up in Prison again in 1975, this time Lewisburg Prison. It's here he starts to read, and educate himself. When he is in Western State Penitentiary he meets a teacher (Dana Delany) who sees his potential, and her patience helps him embrace education. Upchurch goes on to get a degree while in prison, and upon his release instead of going to his old neighborhood, he lives with the teacher and her family who helped her while he was incarcerated. He ends up in prison for the last time (this time though it was really through no fault of his own), but while he is in prison this last time, he takes to teaching others. He reads to prisoners, and shows them that with education, they can empower themselves. Upon his release, his desire to see black men stop destroying themselves with gang violence he forms an organization called the Council for Urban Peace and Justice. He will use this organization to hold gang summits calling for the end of gang violence. His goal is show black youth, and men that they can change their lives for the better. He also marries a young lady he meets in college. This is the one woman he has come to trust, and who accepts him for who he is. He also eventually befriends another prisoner who is white that he meets again when he returns to prison. This prisoner teased Upchurch the whole time they were in jail, but it's obvious when they meet again, that Upchurch had a positive influence on him also. They both make a vow to stop living the way they have been, and stay out of prison. The movie has to pack a lot in the 1 hour 39 minutes, but you get the gist of this dramatic film. Omar plays his role well. Going from being bitter about his childhood, to realizing that he does not have to be a product of his environment. He, and he alone can change the course of his life, and he encourages others to do the same. Treach has a small role in the film being a prison bully. One of the other things that captured my attention is how he acknowledges that he went back to the old neighborhood without a solid plan. Which is what happens to many men who had been jailed. They get out, and they just go back to their old environments. It's inevitable they will fall back into their old ways. If you are looking for some kind of hard core prison film, you won't get it. Though his life is depicted a little in prison, the emphasis is more about his life and the changes he makes once he gets out. Charles S. Dutton has a very, very small role portraying Upchurch's father. The only thing he teaches his son is "don't let anyone get up on you", which translates to "use violence to get your way." Needless to say it was obvious that his father was not a positive influence in his life. The movie packs a lot in this 1 hour 39 min. drama, but it left me wanting more. I would have liked to have heard what he said to these gang leaders, and the outcome of the summit. All in all it's a decent movie. It's not great, but it's decent.
does screwing in the kitchen count? the affection between the two is definitely there, and POSITIVE.. even tho he has a checkered past, she stands by his side.. unlike these mainstream IR movies, where the relationship is setup to FAIL...with the exception being Save the Last Dance
