Fresh (film)

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Fresh
The movie poster for Fresh.
Directed by	Boaz Yakin
Produced by	Lawrence Bender Randy Ostrow
Written by	Boaz Yakin
Starring	Sean Nelson Giancarlo Esposito Samuel L. Jackson
Music by	Stewart Copeland
Distributed by	Miramax Films
Release date(s)	August 24, 1994
Running time	114 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Fresh (1994) is the debut film of writer and director Boaz Yakin.

Set in the violent and gang-ridden projects of New York City, Fresh tells the story of Michael, nicknamed Fresh (portrayed by Sean Nelson), a 12-year old kid running drugs for the local drug lords (notably, Giancarlo Esposito). Inspired by the chess lessons of his father, an alcoholic speed-chess master (Samuel L. Jackson), Fresh devises and executes a brilliant plan to extricate himself and his drug addicted sister (N'Bushe Wright) from their hopeless lives.

Marketed at the time as a hip hop 'hood film, Fresh went relatively unnoticed by the public, but won critical acclaim for being an intense and poetic drama working on different levels. It is both an emotional coming of age story and a realistic portrayal of the dangerous life in the projects - while at the same time the whole film can be seen as a metaphorical chess game. Its final scene has been called one of the most devastating of the decade.

Fresh was produced by Lawrence Bender (seen in a cameo appearance), who at the time was riding the wave of success of Reservoir Dogs. It was scored by ex-member of The Police Stewart Copeland.