DANGEROUS GROUND
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1997 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 5.0 Alternative Scale: ** out of ****
United States, 1997 U.S. Release Date: 2/12/97 (wide) Running Length: 1:34 MPAA Classification: R (Violence, profanity, drug use, nudity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Ice Cube, Elizabeth Hurley, Ving Rhames, Sechaba Morojele, Eric 'Waku' Miyeni Director: Darrell James Roodt Producers: Gillian Gorfil and Darrell Roodt Screenplay: Greg Latter and Darrell Roodt Cinematography: Paul Gilpin Music: Stanley Clarke U.S. Distributor: New Line Cinema
In 1995, director Darrell Roodt was responsible for CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY, one of the most powerful films ever made about South Africa's Apartheid. Adapted from the landmark novel by Alan Paton, the movie provided an emotional anchor for those seeking to understand the fear, hatred, and misunderstanding that sundered the country for decades. Now, in 1997, Roodt has returned to his native South Africa with a contemporary story. And, while the film gets off to a promising start, it eventually devolves into a typical, formula-driven revenge thriller whose characters become progressively less intelligent as the body count rises.
Ice Cube, a rap artist-turned-actor with a forceful screen presence, plays Vusi Madlazi, a South Africa-born man who has been living in the United States for the past fourteen years. He has come home to bury his father, and, setting foot on South African soil for the first time in over a decade, he is reminded that he "left as an African and came back an American." The truth of this simple statement is borne out in one particularly effective scene. At his father's funeral, Vusi, as the eldest son, is required to sacrifice a bull. Horrified by the thought of ritual slaughter, he is unable to fulfill his part in the ceremony.
Now that Vusi is the head of his household, the duty falls to him to travel to Johannesburg and find his younger brother, Steven (Eric Miyeni), who has disappeared. Once there, he hooks up with Steven's white, crack-addicted girlfriend, Karin (Elizabeth Hurley), and learns that his brother is $15,000 in debt to a local drug lord (Ving Rhames). Vusi is given an ultimatum: come up with the money or lose his brother to a bullet.
DANGEROUS GROUND is at its best when it tracks Vusi's exploration of a South Africa that is foreign to him. When he is carjacked by a band of young blacks, he wonders aloud why "brothers" would do this to him. His only response is derisive laughter. Later, as Vusi roams the streets and nightclubs of Johannesburg, we see that "racial equality" has not been a panacea. Poverty is widespread and neo-Nazi groups hang out in alleys waiting to pounce on unsuspecting blacks. Drug use is rampant among the underprivileged, and the crime lords -- black and white alike -- are getting rich by sucking up the profits.
Unfortunately, as the film progresses, these elements become background material for a bloody "eye for an eye" story. Vusi, who begins the film espousing a doctrine that "guns are for cowards", ends up hefting an AK-47. Then, as if to justify the violence, the script introduces several preachy lines of dialogue about Vusi's need to keep fighting the good fight. "Don't fall asleep!" he cries. "The struggle's never over!" A voiceover narrative helpfully supplies us with the information that "drugs had taken over where Apartheid had left off."
The best thing about DANGEROUS GROUND is Ice Cube. Over a series of movies from BOYZ 'N THE HOOD to THE GLASS SHIELD, Cube has carefully honed his acting abilities to the point where his off-screen personae no longer eclipses the role he's playing. Elizabeth Hurley, on the other hand, is ineffective. Watching her character -- a stripper who never removes her clothes on-screen -- one can't help but be reminded of the restrictions (one of which is a "no nudity" clause) built into her Estee Lauder contract. Ving Rhames is somewhat entertaining as the drug lord Muki, although the actor is essentially reprising the part of Marsellus Wallace from PULP FICTION. South African actors Sechaba Morojele and Eric Miyeni (CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY) play Vusi's brothers.
For almost a full hour, DANGEROUS GROUND kept me interested, but the more traditional the plot became, the less involving it was. The final half-hour could have taken place in almost any city around the globe, using stock characters. DANGEROUS GROUND never lives up to the promise and potential it shows during its opening moments. In the end, this is little more than a more socially aware DEATH WISH. The payoff isn't about striking a blow for individual rights, it's about the bloody carnage that inevitably caps off films of this tired genre.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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