This HBO production is based on acclaimed mystery author Walter Mosley's book Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned, a series of short stories featuring Socrates Fortlow, an ex-con just trying to keep his head above water in south central Los Angeles. A fine screenplay by Mosley and a
terrific performance by star Laurence Fishburne make it a film that's not to be missed.
Socrates Fortlow (Laurence Fishburne)--or "Socko" as his friends call him--is an ex-convict living one step above homelessness. He tries to apply for a job in a white neighborhood, but the manager (Laurie Metcalf) repeatedly refuses to accept his application because he doesn't have a phone. One
morning he discovers a boy, Darryl (Daniel Williams), stealing food; after fixing him a meal, Socrates sees a familiar look in the boy's eye, and the boy reluctantly admits that he saw a violent teen, Phillip (Jamaal Carter), kill another boy. Socrates anonymously informs the dead boy's mother,
then encourages the boy to stand up to Phillip.
Socrates, it seems, has a knack for helping people out: he helps a friend, Howard (Bill Nunn), ashamed because he cannot find a job that suits his computer skills, to reconcile with his beautiful wife, Corina (Bridgid Coulter); he organizes a gang of neighbors to shake down a vicious crack head
who has been mugging old ladies and run him out of town; and, when things become too dangerous for Darryl, he asks Howard and Corina to take the boy with them as they move to Venice, where Howard has found a job. Finally, he helps his best friend, Right Burke (Bill Cobbs), an old man just
diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer, by buying street painkillers from a local dealer (Bill Duke). To show thanks, Burke takes Socrates out for a night on the town, during which he reveals he's going to take all the painkillers at once, killing himself. Knowing there's nothing else that can be
done, Socrates leaves his dying friend at a bus stop and heads home.
ALWAYS OUTNUMBERED, ALWAYS OUTGUNNED succeeds due to the happy marriage of star and screenwriter, Laurence Fishburne and Walter Mosley (who also serve as the film's executive producers). As created by Mosley, Socrates Fortlow is a gem of character: strong, wise, and almost classically flawed (not
unlike Ezekiel Rawlins in 1995's DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS, based on a Mosley novel). Brought up on the street and raised in prison, Socrates is well aware that the world is a harsh place, and that the real challenge is in getting by with your self-respect intact. Fishburne seizes the role of Socrates
and soars, depicting the fear and agonizing frustration that comes with trying to keep it together on the street: it's almost painful watching him return to the supermarket again and again just to apply for a job as a bagger, only to be lied to and tossed out by the manager.
But ALWAYS OUTNUMBERED, ALWAYS OUTGUNNED also features a dynamite supporting cast. In addition to the always reliable Bill Nunn and Bill Cobbs, there are small roles by Bill Duke, Natalie Cole (as the proprietor of a local diner), and Cicely Tyson (as Burke's distrustful landlady). Daniel
Williams, too, holds his own as young Darryl, a boy growing up in a world of guns and indiscriminate murder. To see these characters strive to maintain their dignity amidst their poverty is a rare and wonderful thing. (Violence, sexual situations, profanity.) leave a comment