People always make a big deal about type casting and how a star cannot be a star being type cast. I think that is nonsense. There are plenty of actors who are huge stars just playing themselves. Perhaps my favorite I am always that guy, guy, is Samuel L. Jackson. SamJacks always plays SamJacks no matter how many motherfucking snakes are on the motherfucking plane. What does that have to do with life, very little too none, however he is in the movie you should see today, Fresh.
Fresh, is an old school revenge crime thriller, set in a disturbing urban landscape, a crumbling Brooklyn housing project; Fresh is a look into some of the most important issues dealing with poverty and drugs. The generational nature of poverty is laid bare, as the institutions around the characters force more and more of them down the same path as their predecessors, into lives of drug and gang violence.
The gravity of the situation is what makes everything so compelling. You can invest fully into the character of Fresh and relate to his circumstance, even if they are nothing like your own. This is because of how effective the movie is at expressing the dismay and denigration of those trapped in poverty.
There are many great examples of this and Fresh is a great one, but I would be remiss if I did not bring up Season 4 of The Wire. If you like Fresh, which you will, then you absolutely must watch Season 4 of The Wire. There is no doubt that it will be the most compelling bit of media you have ever consumed. Also, if you want to get a scholarly look into poverty that is still very approachable for all, check out Poverty and Power by Edward Royce. For those of you who already did watch The Wire the name of the author should resonate and don’t think it is a coincidence.
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