On B List of Movie Reviews
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Belly (1998)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
2/04, 6/08, 5/15, 4/21, 3/22
6/08:
Belly.
What is the title supposed to mean? Is it in reference to the digestive process with the end product being an excrement waste?
Is that what the film is about?
Anyway, I have to say this: the introduction is fantastic which initially gives me a lot of hope that the rest will
follow suit. Unfortunately, it's not the case. So many black films have been made about gangs and drugs, and this one is
no exception. The script isnt much of a challenge for the cast as the rappers-turned-thespians have the task of working
with first grade dialogue.
Often, it's hard for me to keep up with the characters because I fail to register their names, remember what they look like,
or understand their connection to the story. In fact, Belly is almost a plotless film. What's it about after
all: smoking the biggest blunts possible and drinking lots of alcohol?
Best described as a big-budget music video, it rips off scenes from many films such as
Scarface,
Boyz n the Hood, and Goodfellas.
Paying homage to Menace II Society, the characters mimic the gangsta
stance by aiming the gun sideways because it looks so cool which never works in reality.
The funniest moment is when Sincere decided his family should move to Africa. I suppose his lack of
education has prevented him from realizing it's a one big-ass continent that's composed of many different countries (the
exact number of them is still unknown to this day, believe it or not). And how in the hell are they going to work for money?
Do they know these African countries have the highest percentage of HIV/AIDS cases in the world?
All in all, because of the cinematography, Belly has high replayability value, but everything else makes it out
of whack.
5/15:
This is probably my fifth or sixth time seeing Belly.
It's because of Malik Sayeed's cinematography. I consider the introduction to be among the top 25 ever. Sadly, the
exponential decay in terms of quality begins to set in for the rest of the film.
Among the biggest problems is the lack of coherence. It has many subplots with almost none of them
connecting to each other. Whenever one occurs, almost the only reason for it is to pay homage to a famous scene of some
movie. A good example is the assassination of the Jamaican drug lord which is done à la
Scarface. Another is the
Malcolm X route by assassinating a minister which does nothing for the story. I'm not sure how he
could be a powerful figure anymore at the close of the 20th century.
When Sincere declared, "Let's go to Africa," the moron didn't realize that it's a one huge-ass continent. I can
imagine him walking to the counter for airline tickets and being asked, "But where in Africa?" At any rate, good luck to him
and his family in "Africa" because I don't know how living there is any better than the United States; in fact, it'll be a
hell lot worse.
Trying to keep up with the characters, especially their names and faces, has been a tremendous challenge because I don't know
who's who. That's why it's hard to follow the subplots by not knowing what they have to do with the grand scheme of
things. I wondered a long time why the film was called Belly. One theory is it's supposed to be about the
belly of the beast which is a big jungle for black wannabes in the drug trade. Another is how money-hungry they are. But how about
getting some education for a change? The public library is free, ya know, and they'll live longer this way.
All in all, it's Malik Sayeed's cinematography that gets the most credit for making Belly watchable in spite of many
headshaking flaws.
4/21:
DMX just passed away from a heart attack at the age of 50, and I thought of seeing Belly again.
The opening sequence is what ensures its high replayability value. A lot of times, I would joke that that's the whole film
right there (in fact, nearly the entire budget was spent on the intro) because it would go downhill thereafter. Now, my
opinion has changed.
One aspect that I notice the most is how smooth the editing is. Because of the transition from one scene to another, Belly
can be hypnotic. In a way, it feels like a long but highly-stylized music video with an overriding message that it's
about destruction. The dialogue, which is coupled with a voice-over narration, is fresh and sensible.
The acting is fine; the thespians emulate their characters well, and all were smoking weed and drinking for
real. It's like watching the black ghetto culture come alive with emphasis on fashion and style. The white guy who
recruited Tommy Buns to kill the minister is Frank Vincent, as in Billy Batts, who coached most of the cast to give believable
performances.
All in all, Belly is a rare film that actually improves over time through multiple viewings.
3/22:
Belly still holds up.