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MOVIES / ON DVD / NEVER DIE ALONE
Never Die Alone

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Never Die Alone (2004)

26%
60%
46%
N/A
N/A
N/A
26 %
Reviews Counted: 86 Fresh: 22  Rotten:64 Average Rating: 4/10
 
Consensus: DMX's menacing charisma is put to good use in this stylish but hackneyed modern-day noir.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 89 mins

Synopsis: Based on cult novelist Donald Goines’ novel of the same name, NEVER DIE ALONE is a richly literate film noir about King David (DMX), a hard-boiled, stylish criminal who returns to his hometown seeking redemption but finding only violent death. But he did not die alone...King David’s final... Based on cult novelist Donald Goines’ novel of the same name, NEVER DIE ALONE is a richly literate film noir about King David (DMX), a hard-boiled, stylish criminal who returns to his hometown seeking redemption but finding only violent death. But he did not die alone...King David’s final moments are spent with Paul (David Arquette) an aspiring journalist who knew him just a few minutes but upon whose life he would forever have an impact. King David – half preacher, half Satan, and all street smarts – had recorded the story of his recent exploits on audiotape, leaving behind an often-poetic sermon on villainy and its consequences. The tapes reveal that the cycle of violence and retribution his actions have spawned has come back on him full circle, as he suspected it might all along... One of the most prolific and widely read black authors of his generation, Donald Goines wrote his first two books while incarcerated, and followed those with an astonishing 16 novels written from the time he was released from prison in 1970 until he was shot to death in 1974. The film is directed by Ernest Dickerson whose directorial debut was the 1992 drama JUICE, starring Omar Epps and the late Tupac Shakur. Previously Dickerson served as Director of Photography on seven of Spike Lee’s early films up to and including MALCOLM X. He has directed a number of feature and made-for-TV films from the recent horror movie BONES starring Snoop Dogg to the Peabody Award-winning Showtime movie "Strange Justice," based on the controversy surrounding Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas. Dickerson most recently directed the drama GOOD FENCES, starring Danny Glover and Whoopi Goldberg, which had its world premiere at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. DMX is a top rap artist who has also found great success in the film business. He starred opposite Jet Li in CRADLE 2 THE GRAVE and also appeared in BELLY, ROMEO MUST DIE and EXIT WOUNDS, for which he received a Blockbuster Breakthrough Actor nomination. His first four albums debuted at number one and sold well over 22 million records in just four years. David Arquette starred in the box office smash hits SCREAM 1, 2 and 3, which won him the Blockbuster Favorite Actor Award in 1998. For his leading role in NEVER BEEN KISSED, he was awarded the 2000 Blockbuster Award for Favorite Supporting Actor. He recently drew acclaim for his portrayal of an inmate at Auschwitz II-Birkenau in Tim Blake Nelson’s drama THE GREY ZONE. -- © Fox Searchlight [More]

Genre: Action/Adventure

Starring: DMX, David Arquette, Michael Ealy, Reagan Preston-Gomez, Clifton Powell

Director: Ernest R. Dickerson
Screenwriter: James Gibson
Producer: Earl Simmons, Alessandro Camon
Composer: George Duke

DVD Info

Release:

Apr 3, 2008

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Dual Side

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
  • Dolby Surround - Spanish

Side One:

  • Widescreen - 2.35

Additional Release Material:

  • Audio Commentaries - 1. Ernest Dickerson - Director
  • 2. Actor
  • Deleted Scenes w/ Option Commentary (11)

Side Two:

  • Pan & Scan - 1.33

Additional Release Material:

  • Featurettes - 1. "Making of NEVER DIE ALONE"

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Ratings Image
1/4

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
12/27/07
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
07/21/05
Houston Chronicle
Ratings Image
1/5

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
04/02/05
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons
Ratings Image
1/5

This is not a workable drama, just a series of ideas that rap stars who worship Scarface think would be cool to see.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/28/04
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
06/14/04
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ratings Image
N/A

It's too bad the filmmakers couldn't find a way to present [Goines's] vision without resorting to some pretty threadbare clichés.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/20/04
Daniel Eagan
Film Journal International
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D

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
04/24/04
Brian Orndorf
FilmJerk.com
Ratings Image
N/A

His death was moving; his life was not. It's a requiem for a scumbag--one who left a whole lotta decent people destroyed in his wake.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/16/04
Sean Burns
Philadelphia Weekly
Ratings Image
3/5

[A] gritty film noir [about] a sleazy drug pusher looking for redemption, but who – in classic noir fashion – learns that there is no escaping paying for one’s past sins.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/03/04
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Ratings Image
2.5/5

Hampered by its convoluted plot and a marked melodramatic streak that counteracts the film's cool factor.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/03/04
Annlee Ellingson
Boxoffice Magazine
Ratings Image
1/4

There's neither action nor thrill in this so-called action thriller, and there's really no reason to sit through it.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/02/04
Sarah Chauncey
Reel.com
Ratings Image
.5/4

Never Die Alone is one of those dreadful movies that wants us to think it is deep and philosophical, but it's junk masquerading as art.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/02/04
Willie Waffle
WaffleMovies.com
Ratings Image
N/A

If movies like Bad Lieutenant and Spun are your idea of a good time, then DMX has the film for you.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/31/04
Todd Gilchrist
FilmStew.com
Ratings Image
2/4

This is a violence-ridden movie with one of the most despicable characters you ever will see.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/31/04
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)
Ratings Image
3.5/4

This 'gangsta noir' is a worthy heir to both 'blaxploitation' and to the Warner Bros. gangster classics that linked economic hardship and the allure of crime...

Full Review | comment Comment
03/30/04
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Ratings Image
1/4

Like its main character, Never Die Alone is beyond redemption.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/29/04
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)
Ratings Image
N/A

Thumbs down for me.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/29/04
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
Ratings Image
N/A

A pimped-up facsimile of David Goines' novel. I can't think of a more apt description of this misogynist and deeply flawed film noir.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/29/04
Angela Baldassarre
Sympatico.ca
Ratings Image
2.5/4

...the story is certainly a throwback to the films of the '70s.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/28/04
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
Ratings Image
0/5

A misogynistic, dull-witted bore.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/28/04
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle
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by: lucasthucus 4/16/04
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