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Movies / On DVD / Paid in Full
Paid in Full

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Paid in Full (2002)

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Reviews Counted: 39

Fresh: 20

Rotten:19

Average Rating: 5.7/10

Consensus: Though well-acted and non-exploitative, Paid in Full treads a very well-worn story.

Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Set in the early 1980s, this entry in the African-American urban gangster genre puts character development in the front seat for a change as it rolls through the Harlem streets on its usual rise-and-fall route. Ace (Wood Harris) starts out... Set in the early 1980s, this entry in the African-American urban gangster genre puts character development in the front seat for a change as it rolls through the Harlem streets on its usual rise-and-fall route. Ace (Wood Harris) starts out a laundry delivery guy, but thanks to a chance encounter with a Latin coke dealer (Esai Morales), he quickly works his way to the top of a drug empire. Mitch (Mekhi Phifer) is his more extroverted, colorful pal, the "born hustler" whose bravado hides a tragic family life. For a while the money just keeps rolling in and everyone's happy, but then comes the inevitable turn to tragedy, heralded by the arrival of the brash, trigger-happy Rico (rapper Cam'ron in his screen debut). A sensitive script and moody direction by Charles Stone III allows PAID IN FULL to sidestep a lot of the cliched glamour of similar films. The violence is realistically depicted, and the ultimate emptiness and paranoia of the lifestyle is allowed to manifest slowly through a nice, low-key performance by Harris. Roc-a-Fella mogul Damon Dash produced, based on the true story of Harlem drug lords he remembers from his childhood, one of whom even served as a technical advisor. [More]

Starring: Wood Harris, Cam'ron, Mekhi Phifer, Chi McBride

Starring: Wood Harris, Cam'ron, Mekhi Phifer, Chi McBride, Esai Morales, Regina Hall, Kevin Carroll, Elise Neal

Director: Charles Stone

Director: Charles Stone
Screenwriter: Austin Phillips, Azie Faison, Matthew Cirulnick, Thulani Davis
Producer: Damon Dash, Jay Z, Brett Ratner
Composer: Vernon Reid, Frank Fitzpatrick
Studio: Dimension Films

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Reviews for Paid in Full

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

"Paid In Full" is not the kind of movie that George W. Bush will ever see.

comment Comment
11/21/05
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
Ratings Image

No review available.

comment Comment
08/17/05
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
05/28/03
Newsday
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
11/20/02
Los Angeles Daily News
Ratings Image

Stone seems to have a knack for wrapping the theater in a cold blanket of urban desperation.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
11/15/02
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
11/05/02
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
11/03/02
Susan Stark
Detroit News
Ratings Image

For a rapsploitation film to target and frown upon the darker forces of its nature is certainly a good sign for the maturation of the genre.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
11/03/02
Mark Keizer
Boxoffice Magazine
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
10/31/02
Orlando Weekly
Ratings Image

I'm going to give it a marginal thumbs up. I liked it just enough.

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
10/29/02
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
10/29/02
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Ratings Image

Very familiar, yes, but a stylish and above all well-acted tale of friendships gone sour and the inevitable steep price of crime -- a much better movie than it’s ever going to get credit for.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Today | comment Comment
10/28/02
Brent Simon
Entertainment Today
Ratings Image

The story is familiar from its many predecessors; like them, it eventually culminates in the not-exactly -stunning insight that crime doesn't pay.

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
10/28/02
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
10/27/02
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
10/26/02
Houston Chronicle
N/R

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Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
10/26/02
Arizona Republic
Ratings Image

This is a heartfelt mea culpa -- which gives Paid in Full much of its unexpected emotional power.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
10/26/02
Shirley Sealy
Film Journal International
Ratings Image

If you saw it on TV, you'd probably turn it off, convinced that you had already seen that movie.

Full Review Source: Internet Reviews | comment Comment
10/25/02
Steve Rhodes
Internet Reviews
Ratings Image

If there's a way to effectively teach kids about the dangers of drugs, I think it's in projects like the (unfortunately R-rated) Paid.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
10/25/02
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Ratings Image

This familiar rise-and-fall tale is long on glamour and short on larger moralistic consequences, though it's told with sharp ears and eyes for the tenor of the times.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
10/25/02
Ted Fry
Seattle Times
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Related Forums for Paid in Full

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PAID IN FULL gets some added 'interest' with an 'indie' nomination-
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REEL_REVIEWER
PAID IN FULL gets some added 'interest' with an 'indie' nomination-
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REEL_REVIEWER
PAID IN FULL gets some added 'interest' with an 'indie' nomination-
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