My wife wanted to rate South Central with a five and I get it. It wasn't the greatest acting from everyone but I kept in mind it was made in 1992 and for that it looked maybe a bit too oldschool. The movie is watchable even with the below average acting skills of half of the cast. The story contains a lot of clichés, and a lot of testosteron what makes some scenes look a bit ridiculous, but there is a message of hope that is enjoyable to watch. I like gang movies, this one is just not the best one, but that's only my opinion. People rating South Central with a ten is just ridiculous (do they really compare this movie with gems?). It doesn't matter the message is positive, you have to look at the whole picture, the script, the cinematography, the acting etcetera, and that was for sure not perfect so giving it a perfect score is just exaggerated, but it's watchable, I'll give them that.

It's the summer 1982. Bobby Johnson (Glenn Plummer) leaves jail to reconnect with Ray Ray, Bear and Loco. Ray Ray wants to get rid of smackman Genie Lamp and build his gang The Deuces. Bobby suspects that his baby mama Carole has been with Genie. Bobby kills Genie and gets put away in prison. Ray Ray becomes a rich gang leader and he gets Bobby's son Jimmie working for him. In prison, drug addicted Loco tells Bobby about Ray Ray's self serving ways. When Jimmie gets shot, Bobby blames Ray Ray and leaves the Deuces. He takes up with Muslim Ali (Carl Lumbly) and tries to straighten out his life. In the hospital, Jimmie is befriended by nurse Shelly.

The story is functional urban gang crime drama. The production is lower grade. Director Stephen Milburn Anderson doesn't have much cinematic style. The acting is generally good with some bad exceptions. There are a few too many incidents of over-acting. The plot is uninspired without any surprises. It's not particularly special.

Years ago I saw Donald Bakeer speak to talk about his book, "Crips", and upcoming movie, "South Central," based upon his book. I saw the movie then but I lacked the maturity and life experience to truly understand the significance of the movie. It wasn't Godfather, nor Scarface, nor was it Boyz n the Hood--this was a story of reformation.

Bobby Johnson (Glen Plummer) helped start the Deuce gang in L.A. with friend Ray Ray (Byron Keith Minns). Bobby earned his heart tattoo after killing a local drug dealer named Genie Lamp (Kevin Best). Bobby would serve time for that murder and reform while in prison. His sole goal became saving his son.

I really appreciated this movie's message and direction. Reforming would be hard, changing one's attitude would be hard, and doing all of that in same environment would be doubly hard. But someone has to break the cycle so why not let it be you.