I think the reason people have such a hard time relating to this movie is that they don't understand that this movie represents the lives of real people. Its such a contrast to how people who aren't in the hood live there lives that it comes off as a joke to them. This movie embodies some of the lifestyles led by gangsters in America. DMX is a questionable role. He is erratic, high strung and was probably high while making the movie. But the scene where he forces himself on to high partner is profoundly deep and all too real in life. Now ask yourself, who could have done it better? Nas is a poet. His closing lines were artful. Method man is just great in any movie. The cinematography and sound track were amazing. Hype Williams really never got the credit he deserved for making such a masterpiece.

I'm not going to completely bash this movie, so I'll start with the good..The cinematography. I love the colors and the photography of this movie...it looked really clean and stylized. Now people are saying not to listen to the negative reviews, but for real, this movie was horrible, mostly with the pace of the film; it was rushed. But it was mostly the acting that was horrible, it didn't feel natural when some of the actors were delivering their line, if there were any. But honestly, the movie had no plot. Period.Yes there was a "message" at the end of the movie, but the movie really had no plot, there was no conflicts and whats worst the ending is incomplete, unless you go by Sin's narration. It wasn't powerful, it wasn't spectacular, it was a regular flick, nothing else.

About ten years ago I heard about this film through the overwhelmingly negative reviews. I never got the chance to see it myself but the names involved and the fact it was William's debut as a "proper filmmaker" made me want to see it for myself – I didn't think it would be ten years before it came to me via television. Watching it for myself I find the critics to be spot on the money with their criticism because this is a roundly poor film that doesn't deliver on any level – even the areas that you would expect it to at least be OK on. The problems start with the basic plot, which at best is a mumbled sentence about two gangsters living rough and finding redemption – I sincerely doubt that there was a plot synopsis or a story board done for this before writing began, because the ideas are so basic in the final product that it cannot have been more than an one-liner when it came to the development stages.These poor ideas are built into a messy and disjointed plot that has zero narrative flow to it – zero. Nada. None. We do have scenes that connect across the story but on the whole the film feels like fragmented scenes from other films in the same genre – at best lazy, at worst, dumb homage/lifts. Again this comes down to the poor idea for the film, with blocks of narrative put alongside one another without a lot of connection – the place it all ends up is so laughably corny and out of nowhere that it is hard not to sit there shaking your head in disbelief at how bad it is. Unsurprisingly the script is not up to much. At its BEST, the film is mumbling ebonic gangsa clichés – let me stress that again: the best bits in the script are mumbled clichés. The worst is when the characters dialogue is required as part of the story because none of it rings true, my favourite bad bit being Nas' declaration that he will "go to Africa", which is OK to say as a throwaway line in a song but when it is a key thought in your character's head that he makes happen, then maybe it was worth picking a country? I mean – it is a pretty big place and it is incredibly different across each country, with definite places to avoid. That is my pick but there are plenty more.The cast function at the level one would expect given what they have to deal with. It is a common complaint that rappers do not make good films or make good actors and, while there are some exceptions (Mos Def for one) this is often the case. So what better to do than isolate the problem by sticking them all in one film together and having done with it? DMX can "do" street and "do" tough but when the film even suggests that he need do more he just goes to pieces and seems to be mugging for all his worth. Nas meanwhile spends a lot of the film being "deep" and thoughtful but he is also exposed by having a terrible narration to deliver that he cannot make work in any way. Don't feel too sorry for him though – he has a writer's credit on this turd. The presence of Johnson and Meth only serve to remind fans of The Wire how good things can be and by extension, remind us how bad this is even as we watch it. Hicks, T-Boz, Power and others all compete to see who can be the most wooden and unconvincing – my vote goes to TLC's T-Boz for reacting to the Nas being shot in the way one would react to the news that your partner had just snagged their favourite jumper on a nail and made a minor hole in it.Most surprisingly bad though is the film as a visual experience. Here and there we have some clever shot-framing and camera angles but for the vast majority of the film things are murky and dull, with the cinematography awful and none of the invention and eye for a shot that Hype Williams has made his career off. You hear people saying this film is bad but it looks great, I really have to disagree because on the whole it looks awful. And there we have Belly – a film that fails in almost every regard. It is clichéd and simple but yet still cannot manage to make the story flow, while the poor script makes sure that any hint of character or hope of performances from the cast are almost totally gone (with the casting processing putting the final lock on that door). The big clue of quality though is that the one thing we thought we could rely on Williams for (the visuals) is also mostly poor. I watch plenty of so-so films so please believe me when I tell you that this is not a disappointment or a letdown – this is a total pile-up of a film.

"Belly", the film, has been rated poorly by the critics, and for a simple reason - the critics are mostly White. Whites do not share the culture of the film's characters, and will probably just write this film off for it's exploitative elements. However, if you are Black, this film will probably be rated much better than the "White" critic's ratings. Take the OJ Simpson verdict of, "not guilty", the White Audience's response was that of a funeral - silence, moans, and shock. On the other side, the Black Audience's reaction was just the opposite - cheers, and jumping with joy. Film and Art is very subjective, and is not like math, where if you are right, you can be proved right, but in Art, there is no such proof. Also, there is something I think that many would not agree with me, is that when White people see a movie that is not made by a White Person, they have subconscious prejudices that are transferred to the film, and in some cases may rate a film poorly, just because they feel a Black Person can NOT make a movie better than a White Person. "Belly" is a "great film", and there should be more Black Film Critics.