Author: Unknown
•3:26 PM
By Jana Hicks

Writer director Boaz Yakin has had an interesting career in Hollywood. He's always been, primarily, a write for hire. He has had very few personal projects, mainly sticking to studio work like Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. Most of his work is... Let's be honest, mediocre and forgettable. It's not his fault, it's just that these are the dull projects they give him to work with. So what is one of his movies doing on a review labeled "must see movie downloads"?

Well, before making Fresh, he went into a brief exile, stating that he would not return to film making until he had something to say. And... He lived up to that promise. Fresh is a powerful statement.

Fresh is the name of the young hero of the movie, a child who works as a drug mule for various dealers and scumbags around the city. He makes around twenty to fifty bucks per run, and saves it all up in a coffee can while his dealers have assumed he's been spending it on comic books and candy bars. What exactly is he saving it for? Well, you'll find out, and you'll be honestly shocked and surprised at exactly how deep his plans really go.

Each week, Fresh spends one afternoon playing chess with his father who offers him guidance and a moment to reflect upon what's going on in his life. These are sort of the Greek chorus scenes of the film, allowing both Fresh and the audience to consider what has happened before and where the movie is going to go from here. The chess also serves as a metaphor for what Fresh is doing while on the clock.

Think of it as Fistful of Dollars set in the ghetto. When a girl Fresh has a crush on, as well as a childhood friend, are murdered in a random shooting by one of the drug dealers he works for, Fresh hatches a plan to take revenge on all of the pushers and scumbags he deals with on a daily basis, freeing himself and his family from the clutches of the drug dealers.

The plan is complex, but easy to understand after you see the whole thing play out. Fresh's ingenuity is incredible, the way he plays one side against the other, all the while avoiding suspicion simply by virtue of being a child. They never suspect that they've been outwitted by a ten year old. So the question is how long he can keep the facade going, how long it takes to make everything work and free himself of these scumbag's control over his life once and for all.

The movie is, at times, brutally and shockingly violent. This is necessary to drive home the reality of Fresh's situation. He's not in a good place in life, his bosses menace him and threaten him with death at every turn, and he walks a tightrope in order to keep himself alive while at the same time taking down the people who torment him and his friends and family.

It's a rare film that works this well with such touchy subject material. The film takes a child of ten years old and puts him into a Fistful of Dollars/Yojimbo style plot, scheming and plotting his way to victory over deadly, menacing criminals. It's incredible how delicate an operation this is, to make the movie exciting and suspenseful without selling short the reality and truth of the subject matter of real life street violence.

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