Racism, Thatcher-era despair, and the disillusionment of a returning vet are at the heart of screenwriter Martin Stellman's well-intentioned but overreaching directorial debut. Reuben James (Denzel Washington [CRY FREEDOM]) stars as a paratrooper returning after a nine-year hitch in the
British army to a council estate in his native South London, where he finds his have-not neighbors engaged in their own battle against crime, racism, poverty and hopelessness. Reuben also discovers that his service record means less to employers than the color of his skin does. His old friends
have already been forced to find their own ways of coping, turning to crime to support the...
Released:
1988
Rated:
R
Length:
105 mins