Paid in Full (2002)
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51% of critics liked it
(41 reviews) -
93% of users liked it
(19,232 ratings)
Paid in Full marks the feature debut of director Charles Stone III, who rose to fame after creating Budweiser's "Wassup" commercials. The urban gangster drama is loosely based on the true story of 1980s Harlem drug kingpins AZ, Rich Porter, and Alpo. (This story was also the basis for… More Paid in Full marks the feature debut of director Charles Stone III, who rose to fame after creating Budweiser's "Wassup" commercials. The urban gangster drama is loosely based on the true story of 1980s Harlem drug kingpins AZ, Rich Porter, and Alpo. (This story was also the basis for a documentary, Game Over (Part 1).) Ace (Wood Harris) works at a laundromat, struggling to get by, while his friend Mitch (Mekhi Phifer) lives the high life selling heroin. His sister's boyfriend, Calvin (Kevin Carroll) also sells drugs, and looks down on Ace for struggling to earn a living. Out delivering laundry one day, Ace meets Lulu (Esai Morales), a big time coke dealer, who lives better than anyone Ace has ever known. When Lulu leaves some coke in the pocket of a coat he's having cleaned, Ace returns it to him, and Lulu rewards him for his honesty by letting him keep the drugs. When Calvin gets busted, Ace hesitantly takes his place in the neighborhood, and starts working for Lulu. As the crack business takes off, Ace finds himself making more money than he knows what to do with. Mitch goes to jail for a short time, where another inmate, Rico (rapper Cam'ron in his acting debut), defends him in a fight. By the time Mitch gets out of prison, Ace is running the neighborhood. Ace makes Mitch his right-hand man, and when Rico gets out of jail, he joins the crew. The drugs and money flow, and Ace tries to keep everyone happy, but there are some who want what's his, and will stop at nothing to get it. Paid in Full was shown at the 2002 Urbanworld Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- Directed By
- Charles Stone III
- Written By
- Austin Phillips, Azie Faison, Matthew Cirulnick, Thulani Davis
- Genres
- Mystery & Suspense, Drama
R,
- In Theaters
- Oct 25, 2002 Wide
- Studio
- Dimension Films
Critic Reviews
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Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
I'm going to give it a marginal thumbs up. I liked it just enough.
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Ted Fry, Seattle Times
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.
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Carla Meyer, San Francisco Chronicle
Needed a little less bling-bling and a lot more romance.
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Megan Turner, New York Post
Rings true, from the smooth dialogue to the unaffected performances of the central actors.
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Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
A fake street drama that keeps telling you things instead of showing them.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
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Cast
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Wood Harris
as Ace
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Mekhi Phifer
as Mitch
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Kevin Carroll
as Calvin
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Esai Morales
as Lulu
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Chi McBride
as Pip
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Cam'ron
as Rico
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Remo Green
as Sonny
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Cynthia Martells
as Dora
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Elise Neal
as Aunt Jane
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Regina Hall
as Kiesha
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Angie Martinez
as Girl in Car
- Hakan Coskuner
- Jonas Chernick
- Remo Greene
- Joyce Walker
