***SPOILER*** Life on the mean streets of Newark New Jersey is brutally depicted in "New Jersey Drive" that at the time, and even now, was among other things what Newark's Mayor Sharpe James wanted to keep out of the film in it being the car theft capital of the world. In fact Mayor James refused to have any footage of the movie shot within Newark city limits taking away a good part of the movies authenticity!The movie starts with a carjacking gone bad that ends up putting one of the carjackers Ronnie Lambs, Koran C. Thomas,in the hospital on life support. Lambs and his fellow carjackers unknowingly carjacked tough take no BS Newark cop Emil Rosco's, Saul Stein, car. It was Officer Rosco who just happened to be on the scene when Ronnie and his friends were ambushed in a police string. Shot four times by Rosco Ronnie now in the hospital and no gun found on him has Rosco in deep trouble with the only witness to the shooting fellow carjacker Jason Petty, Shannon Corley, slated to testify against him before the grand jury!This all sets the stage for Rosco hounding Jason all throughout the movie to get him to change his testimony. As for Jason he gives Rosco and the Newark Police all the rope they need to hang him by continuously going out with his friends carjacking cars thus putting his and their lives as well as freedom in jeopardy. Jason's mom Rene Petty, Gwen McGee, knows that her son is out stealing cars instead of going to school but try as she does Rene can't convince him that he'll end up either dead or behind bars as a result of his actions. It's later when his straight as an arrow sister Jackie, Samantha Brown, starts to hang out with the same crowd that Jason does that he throws a fit that almost has him gunned down by her new found "Gangsta" boyfriend Ritchie, Andre Moore. Ritchie feels that Jason "dists" him by trying to keep Jackie from ending up like him: Out of luck out of work out of school and nothing in life to look forward too! Stealing cars together with his friend Midget, Gabe Casseus, Jason tries to make a few bucks for his troubles by selling them to this chop-chop junk yard operator, Arthur J. Nascarella, in what looks like the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn for pennies on the dollar. Despite all the business they give him the junk yard man almost throws Midget out of his place when he comes unannounced with his latest steal not wanting the cops to connect him, by buying stolen merchandise, to Midgets & Jason's criminal activities! it's later when the law finally catches up with Jason that ends with one of his many carjacking friends being gunned down that he finally realizes that this life is not for him. ****SPOILERS**** Spending 90 days behind bars in a juvenile dentition center Jason finally saw the light and decided to go back to school and put his life of crime behind him. The fact that Officer Rosco was indited in the Ronnie Lambs shooting helps also in Jason now not having to worry about Rosco framing or working him over, which he did a number of time in the movie, to keep him from talking. It was in fact Midget's fiery death is a stolen car chased by police that finally convinced Jason that he was right in his decision to go straight! It was Jasons refusal to join Midget and his friends in this latest carjacking caper that ended up saving his life!

This movie brings to mind "Boys 'n the Hood," "Menace to Society," "South Central" and others of its ilk and even shares actors with some of them. The film's "us vs. the law" mentality is underscored by the all-black neighborhood vs. the nearly all-white police force. Here the cops are so bad they seem like caricatures and in one scene they even ambush the boys as they drive by in a car they've just "liberated" from its owner. It's like a bushwhacking from an old Western, but the contemporary setting makes it look all too real.The story centers on young Jason Petty and his buddies, to whom school is just an inconvenience that takes time away from their "real occupation" of boosting cars. This happens to be Newark, N.J., a rust-belt city low on jobs but notoriously high on crime. In fact the problem is so severe that the cops all have "Car Theft" written on their backs, to show that an entire unit must be devoted to this particular crime.The boys use a "slim Jim" to gleefully break into cars and go joy-riding, as if it's no big deal. They only run into real trouble when the police ambush them. The vicious, Nazi-like Lt. has a vendetta against the boys, seeing them not as human beings who might be worthy of redemption, but as human targets. In fact, he's a little reminiscent of that sadistic Nazi officer of the Warsaw ghetto, who shot down Jews for pleasure in the film "Schindler's List." When the boys steal a police car in retribution for the ambush, things predictably go downhill fast. They are severely beaten by the cops and Jason finally ends up in prison. Clearly these are "bad boys," who'd steal your car in a minute, but the film wants us to see them as anti-heroes, showing Jason protecting his sister and his friend taking care of his own grandmother. The film left us wondering whose side to take and who to feel sadder for: the boys whose lives are going down the drain, the honest citizens whose cars are being stolen left and right and who could be caught in the crossfire of a shootout at any moment or the city of Newark itself, the spirit of whose law is being betrayed by brutal, soul-dead cops.In spite of the over-the-top portrayal of the latter, the film offers a realistic-looking rendering of the ghetto, of the protagonists and their families and of the culture of car theft in a city where there appears to be only 2 career paths - law enforcement and crime. Strangely, the entire subject of drugs is never mentioned.The filmmakers (including producer Spike Lee) are obviously biased against the Newark police, who, we hope, are not as bad they are portrayed here. Nevertheless, they've given us yet another a strong, affecting story about the inner city and black youth gone awry and Sharron Corley is fine as Jason.

New Jersey Drive is a very underrated movie to put it quite bluntly. As it's supposed to in urban movies, the street atmosphere was definitely there. The script was good because it showed a crrosroad as Jason's crew and the cops lives crossed paths, I don't wanna give this away though. Sharron Corley gives a good performance as the humble but tough Jason, as does Gabriel Casseus as the knucklehead Midget and Don Faison as Tiny Dime, etc., etc. It was also wonderfully directed by Nick Gomez and also stars Heavy D and Michele Morgan.authentic street movie 10/10

I just wanted to inform anyone who may be interested that the the movie "New Jersey Drive" was my personal favorite off alltime. I admire the work Nick Gomez and Spike Lee put into this masterpiece of a movie. This movie made quite an impression on me because of its realness and its appreciation of detail of life in urban New Jersey. It struck a chord with me, personally, because I grew up with friends like those depicted in the movie. It further made an impression with me because I used to spend time in Teaneck several years ago, so some of the characters were kept "real". At times, this movie seemed like a documentary because you didn't know whether or not these were real events taking place. Although movies like "Boys in the Hood" and "Menace II Society" grab more attention, I personally feel these movies were somewhat "enhanced" to appeal to a broader audience. "New Jersey Drive" was an uncompromising piece of "in your face" reality. Lee and Gomez covered every detail in this urban drama from the music, clothing, slang, and location.Unlike some of the movies I mentioned earlier, the actors performed as if they weren't "actors". Nothing was compromised in order to make good "theater". The only misfortune to come from this movie was the fact that many people "slept" on it. I look forward to more works of art from Nick and Spike in the hopefully near future.