Anthony (Larenz Tate) has returned home from the Vietnam War with a Seargent's rank but very little else to show for it. Except now he also has a 4-year-old child and wife to try and support. And his good bud (Chris Tucker) is now a heroin addict, another pal he fought alongside Cleon (Bokeem Woodbine) a whacked-out two-bit preacher. They all need money and come together to rob an armored car.
Beautifully structured in a three-act format the film is also very loosely based on several real news stories which I won't get into here. It borders on being a character study film with Tate's character Anthony at the center of everything, however, I think it's better described as a powerful drama about a group of buddies who grew up in the hood, got shipped off to Vietnam, and came back to virtually no support. Unless, of course, you got a dose of Agent Orange.
The legendary Keith David is also in this, he plays Kirby, a sort of mentor and father figure to Anthony. And look out, Clifton Powell as "Cutty" the neighborhood badass in a scene where he straightens Anthony out on a few things is acting at it's finest. All eyes on Tate though, he totally owns this film and role. I like to think I don't throw these opinions out lightly - Larenz Tate's performance in this is Oscar worthy 100%.
The soundtrack was a huge success, eveni going to #1 on the R&B Billboard. It's chock full of good ole stuff - James Brown, Sly & The Fanily Stone, Issac Hayes and so on. Dead Presidents streams on Tubi for the next 19 days, it's a great film from the Hughes Brothers. 4.0 stars/5
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