Belly

USA 1998

Reviewed by Kay Dickinson

Synopsis

Our synopses give away the plot in full, including surprise twists.

New York, February 1999. Tommy and Sincere make money from robbery and drug dealing. Tommy, who relishes the hustler lifestyle, is two-timing his loyal girlfriend Kisha. Sincere, on the other hand, encouraged by his partner Tionne and the writings of the Reverend Saviour, is more disillusioned. Tommy acquires large quantities of a new, more addictive type of heroin through his big-shot contact Lennox, and he and Sincere start selling it in Omaha, Nebraska. Tommy and Lennox travel to Jamaica to annihilate their competitor, a dealer who supplies New York. They return to find the Omaha operation has been busted. Several associates have been arrested, including Kisha.

The increasingly paranoid Tommy goes on the run. Sincere longs more and more for a law-abiding existence and even contemplates moving his family to Africa. The police eventually catch up with Tommy, offering him a deal in return for his freedom: he must assassinate Saviour before an important speech on New Year's Eve. As Tommy approaches his target, Saviour reasons with him and they eventually embrace. A voiceover tells us that Sincere's family are now happily living in Africa.

Review

Over the past few years, music-video director Hype Williams has warped and morphed the fortunate likes of Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliot with his effects-heavy promos to the betterment of their careers. His first feature Belly - a tale of two gangsters, running out of time and chances - offers a chance to see whether his talent can burn brightly enough to fill a big screen. The traces of Williams' past can be spotted in the film's glib if striking visuals and its muddied narrative in which figures waft in and out, their actions often unexplained and unmotivated. While frequently witty in its critique of masculine swagger and mindless arriviste consumption, the film unfortunately falls back on the moral-parable tradition which swamps the work of many African-American film-makers assaying conscientious representation (such as Boyz N the Hood). Revolving around a pattern-book good friend/bad friend scenario (the dissatisfied Sincere and wide-boy Tommy, respectively), Belly is painted in slapdash, though strikingly abstract brushstrokes.

True to music-video convention, what we encounter is aesthetically shallow but handsome nonetheless. Gorgeous hues, surreal fish-eyed perspectives and pulsating varispeed camera work offer an alternative to the drab realism that so often cloaks films about the under classes and denies their characters the suave confidence that makes their criminality interesting. After a daring armed robbery, the protagonists return to their lair to watch Gummo, but the disorientating sheen of Belly owes little to the avant-garde tradition to which Gummo aspires.

But should we read these characteristics as shortcomings? Maybe the film is simply an advert luring us to its soundtrack and is itself happily resigned to cinema's growing financial reliance on the music industry. Clues to this are easily spotted: MTV plays in the background of Kisha and Tommy's apartment and the cast form an extensive 'Who's Who' list of contemporary hip hop. While admittedly charismatic, these performers (Nas, DMX, T-Boz, Method Man) seem a little bewildered, unable to immerse themselves fully in characterisation.

Credits

Producers
Ron Rotholz
Hype Williams
Robert Salerno
Larry Meistrich
Screenplay
Hype Williams
Story
Anthony Bodden
Nas
Hype Williams
Director of Photography
Malik Sayeed
Editor
David Leonard
Production Designer
Regan Jackson
Music
Stephen Cullo
©Artisan Pictures, Inc
Production Companies
Artisan Entertainment presents a Big Dog Films production
Executive Producer
James Bigwood
Production Associate
Randy Fletcher
Production Supervisors
Nick Bernstein
Rich T. Ford Jr
Jamaica Crew:
Shelly Houis
Production Co-ordinator
Jamaica Crew:
Gayatri Persad
Production Manager
Jamaica Crew:
Kwesi Dixon
Unit Production Manager
Natascha Tillmanns
Location Manager
Len Murach
Jamaica Crew:
Peter Packer
Location Co-ordinator
Antonia Calzetti
Post-production Supervisors
Post Production Playground
Eitan Hakami
Assistant Directors
Sarah Gyllenstierna
Michelle Sullivan
Script Supervisor
Andrea Crawford
Casting
Winsome Sinclair
Camera Operator
Steve Consentino
Digital Effects
Cineric Inc
Eric Person
Special Effects Co-ordinator
Drew Jiritano
Co-ordinators
Mark Bero
Matt Vogel
Associate Editor
Keith Croket
Visual Consultant
Little X
Art Directors
Nicholas Lundy
Jamaica Crew:
Jennifer Chang
Set Decorator
Carol Silverman
Costume Designer
June Ambrose
Wardrobe Supervisors
Sandi Figueroa
Paul A. Simmons Jr
Jamaica Crew:
Cyprian Thomas
Make-up
Key Artist:
Sharyn Cordice
Artists:
Mary Aaron
Michelle Paris
Key Supervisor, Jamaica Crew:
Sharyn Cordice
Additional Artists, Jamaica Crew:
Cecile Burrowes
Erica Crooks
Key Hairstylist
Felicia (Lisa) Davis
Hairstylists
Quentin Harris
China Potter
Jamaica Crew:
Carol Reid
Titles/Opticals
Cineric Inc
János Pilenyi
Score Producer
Teese Gohl
Music Editor
Stuart Levy
Score Recorders/Mixers
Gary Chester
Lawrence Manchester
Music Consultant
Barry Cole
Soundtrack
"Back to Life (a cappella version)" by Trevor Berrisford Romeo, performed by Soul II Soul; "House in Motion", "Blue Agony", "Sincere" by/performed by Olu Dara; "Windpipe" by Robert Diggs Jr p/k/a/ RZA, Dennis Coles p/k/a/ Ghostface, performed by Wu-Tang Clan featuring RZA, Ghostface Killah and OCB; "Pregame" by Jay-Z, Sauce Money, Spencer Bellamy, performed by Sauce Money featuring Jay-Z; "Sucky Ducky" by Tony Kelly, performed by Mr. Vegas; "I Wanna Live" by Nas, Nature, Tone, Braveheart, performed by Braveheart; "Blood Sweat and Tears" by L. Elliot, J. Grinnage, E. Murry, performed by M.O.P.; "Swell Up" by Wild Style, performed by Crucial Conflict; "No Way in, No Way out" by R. Kelly, performed by Lady; "Grand Finale" by Nas, DMX, Method Man, Irv Gotti, Lil' Rob, performed by Nas, DMX and Method Man and Ja Rule, contains an interpolation of "Prelude" by L. Patternon, L. Young;; "Two Sides" by Lavita Rainor, Damon Blackmon, performed by Hot Totti; "Story to Tell" by Ja Rule, Irv Gotti, Lil' Rob, performed by Ja Rule; "Devil's Pie", "Devil's Pie (a cappella version)" by D'Angelo, DJ Premiere, performed by D'Angelo; "Bashment Time" by Tony Kelly, performed by Mr. Easy and Frisco Kid; "Top Shooter" by Tony Kelly, DMX, Sean Paul, Mr. Vegas, performed by DMX, Sean Paul, Mr. Vegas; "What About" by R. Kelly, performed by Sparkle; "The Right Man" by Tony Kelly, performed by Frisco Kid; "Technology" by Ihan Ershahin, Lisa Rudolph, Daniel Wyatt, Charles Stella, performed by Temple of Soul; "Bam Bam" by Winston Riley, performed by Sister Nancy; "Silly" performed by Taral Hicks
Sound Design
Steve 'Iceman' Borne
Production Sound Mixers
Tod Maitland
Jamaica Crew:
Jay Meagher
Recordists
Jerome Vitucci
Kelly Neese
Re-recording Mixer
Dominick 'The Dominator' Tavella
Dialogue Editor
Rick Freeman
Sound Effects Editors
Bruce Kitzmeyer
Pam Demetruis
ADR
Recordist:
Alex Raspa
Mixers:
David Boulton
Peter Waggoner
Bobby Johanson
Mark Mayer
Jason Shablik
Chris Dasta
Editor:
Branka Mrkic
Foley
Editor:
Steve Visscher
Stunt Co-ordinator
Julius LeFlore
Firearms
Jamaica Crew:
Rick Washburn
Animal Wrangler
Helmut Lechner
Film Extract
Gummo (1997)
Cast
Nas
[Nasir Jones]
Sincere
DMX
[Earl Simmons]
Tommy Brown
Taral Hicks
Kisha
Tionne 'T-Boz' Watkins
Tionne
Method Man
[Clifford Smith]
Shameek
Tyrin Turner
Big
Hassan Johnson
Mark
Power
[Oliver Grant]
Knowledge
Louie Rankin
Lennox
Stanley Drayton
Wise
James Parris
Lakid
Kurt Loder
himself
Minister Benjamin F. Muhammed
[Benjamin Chavis]
Reverend Saviour
Jay Black
Black
John 'BJ' Bryant
Prince 'Blunt' Graham
Wondosas 'Kilo' Martin
thugs
Shaun Morrison
housekeeper
Frank Vincent
Roger
Eric Keith McNeil
Shorty
Xavier Simmons
young Tommy
Lavita Raynor
Kionna
Monica Michaels
club manager
Jennifer 'Nen' Gatien
girl in office
Anthony 'Az' Cruz
Born
David Edwards
Jeffrey Kaufman
Brant Spencer
Adam C. Vignola
federal agents
Micaal Stevens
killer
Michael Woodhouse
older barber
Tyrone Lewis
younger barber
Carmen Yannuzzi Jr
guard
Crystal N. Johnson
Knowledge's cop girlfriend
James Gresham
speaker
Michael Manning
teacher
Certificate
18
Distributor
Alliance Releasing (UK)
8.602 feet
95 minutes 35 seconds
Dolby digital/SDDS
Colour by
DeLuxe
Last Updated: 20 Dec 2011