Paid in Full (2002)

51% of critics liked it
(41 reviews)
94% of users liked it
(18,449 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 a documentary,… 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

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 37 min.
Directed By: Charles Stone III
Written By: Austin Phillips, Azie Faison, Matthew Cirulnick, Thulani Davis
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Drama

In Theaters: Oct 25, 2002 Wide
On DVD: Apr 8, 2003
Studio: Dimension Films

Critic Reviews

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
I'm going to give it a marginal thumbs up. I liked it just enough.
Carla Meyer, San Francisco Chronicle
Needed a little less bling-bling and a lot more romance.
Megan Turner, New York Post
Rings true, from the smooth dialogue to the unaffected performances of the central actors.
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
A fake street drama that keeps telling you things instead of showing them.
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
It does offer an uncommon thoughtfulness that makes it far less exploitative or sensationalistic than most examples of its genre.
Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
Harris and Phifer's chemistry lends the inevitable tragedies some genuine punch.
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
"Paid In Full" is not the kind of movie that George W. Bush will ever see.
Phil Villarreal, Arizona Daily Star
Stone seems to have a knack for wrapping the theater in a cold blanket of urban desperation.
Mark Keizer, Boxoffice Magazine
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.
Brent Simon, Entertainment Today
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.
Jim Lane, Sacramento News & Review
The story is familiar from its many predecessors; like them, it eventually culminates in the not-exactly -stunning insight that crime doesn't pay.

Read all 11 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Jeffrey M

Paid in Full has a gritty realistic quality that is excellent in its' world building. It's well acted by largely unknowns, and succeeds in painting a real picture of Harlem without making it glamorous. The pacing, however is uneven, with the film seemingly dragging at… More
Paid in Full has a gritty realistic quality that is excellent in its' world building. It's well acted by largely unknowns, and succeeds in painting a real picture of Harlem without making it glamorous. The pacing, however is uneven, with the film seemingly dragging at points. More time should also have been devoted to fleshing out some of the characters. Still, its realism reminded me of The Wire, the greatest crime show ever.