IMDb RATING
7.2/10
2.2K
YOUR RATING
A former prisoner tries to save a neighbor youth from following him down the wrong path.A former prisoner tries to save a neighbor youth from following him down the wrong path.A former prisoner tries to save a neighbor youth from following him down the wrong path.
- Awards
- 1 win & 6 nominations
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe cap that Socrates wears throughout the movie reads "90291", the zip code corresponding to the Los Angeles suburb of Venice (roughly 15 miles west of where this movie takes place). The M'Shalla family moves to Venice at the end of the movie after Howard gets a job there.
- Quotes
Socrates Fortlow: You and your friends did wrong, Darryl. Now, I'm just talking to you, one black man to another, all right, 'cause, see, if you don't know when you've done wrong, life ain't worth a damn.
- ConnectionsSpin-off The Right Mistake
- SoundtracksChain of Fools
Written by Don Covay (as Dan Covay)
Published by Fourteenth Hour Music Inc., Promptu
Performed by Aretha Franklin
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products
Featured review
This can be a tough video to find, but when I finally did it turned out to be well worth the effort. This is a great film, it rates right up with "Citizen X" as one of the best made for HBO movies. Laurence Fishburne is terrific as Socrates Fortlow, an ex-con living in inner L.A. and attempting to carve a new life for himself while just barely getting by. Fishburne gives the character real grit, anger, and pride, but most of all he shows us a man who is committed to living life honorably after making some very serious mistakes. You can feel the frustration of a man who is trying to live right in a world that is seldom fair, but he won't give in to the temptation to make an easy buck or to compromise his principles. The film is presented as a series of intertwining stories about the people in Fortlow's life, and the other actors in the film are superb - there is never a moment that doesn't feel real. The stories all have meaning - love, prejudice, empathy, sorrow, friendship, honor and death. It's not often that a film says this much without seeming to, and it's not often you see a film this moving. If your video store doesn't have it, be like Socrates and just keep coming back and protesting loudly until they do.
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 44 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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