Poetic Justice

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Poetic Justice
DVD cover.
Directed by	John Singleton
Produced by	John Singleton Steve Nicolaides Dwight Alanzo Williams
Written by	John Singleton
Starring	Tupac Shakur Janet Jackson Regina King Joe Torry Billy Zane
Music by	Janet Jackson Terry Lewis
Cinematography	Peter Lyons Collister
Editing by	Bruce Cannon
Distributed by	Columbia
Release date(s)	July 23, 1993
Running time	109 min.
Country	US
Language	English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Poetic Justice is a 1993 drama/romance film starring Tupac Shakur and Janet Jackson and directed by John Singleton.

1 Plot
2 Trivia
3 Full Cast
4 External links

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Justice (Janet Jackson) is a young African-American woman living in South Central Los Angeles. She was named Justice by her late mother, who had her while attending Law school. After the shooting death of her boyfriend, the young woman is living in a state of depression, until she meets a Postal Office employee named Lucky (Tupac Shakur) who embarks with her on a trip with her best friend and boyfriend, Iesha and Chicago (played by Regina King and Joe Torry). In classic Hollywood type, the young woman's heart opens to her suitor's attentions as she finds a new meaning for life.

Singleton named the film Poetic Justice because the main character, Justice, writes beautiful poems which she recites throughout the movie. The poems are in fact from Maya Angelou. Angelou also appears in the movie as one of three elderly sisters, May, June and April (Called the "Calendar Sisters") that the characters meet at a road side family reunion.

[edit] Trivia

Aspects of this film were parodied in Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood as well as other movies of the same genre.

It was rumored that Janet Jackson requested Tupac Shakur take an AIDS test (having four people asking him) before they filmed the love scene but he refused because he felt he was being discriminated against. He later admits that he was asked to take an AIDS test, but it was not Janet that requested it, but the crew for the movie or Janet's then secret husband Rene Elizondo

Janet Jackson's song "Again" was nominated for Best Song at the Academy Awards.

A young Usher Raymond made an appearance on the Poetic Justice soundtrack.

Poetic Justice reached #1 in the box office for a week.

Janet Jackson won 2 MTV Movie Awards.

The character played by Maya Angelou and her two sisters were nicknamed "The Calendar Sisters" because of their names: April, May and June.

Opening weekend, it made $11,728,455. It grossed a total of $27,515,786. It's Tupac's highest grossing film to date.

The role of Lucky was orignally written for Ice Cube.

[edit] Full Cast

Janet Jackson .... Justice
Tupac Shakur .... Lucky
Regina King .... Iesha
Joe Torry .... Chicago
Tyra Ferrell .... Jessie
Roger Guenveur Smith .... Heywood
Billy Zane .... Brad
Khandi Alexander .... Simone
Maya Angelou .... Aunt June
Lori Petty .... Penelope
Kimberly Brooks .... Kim
Maia Campbell .... Shante
Kina V. Cosper .... Female cousin
John Cothran Jr. .... Uncle Earl
Dina D. .... Dina
James Deeth .... Helicopter pilot
Norma Donaldson .... Aunt May
Kelly Joe Dugan .... Truck driver
Suliamen El Hadi .... Member, Last Poets
Omar Ben Hassan .... Member, Last Poets
Jalal Nuriddin .... Member, Last Poets
Daoud Spencer .... Member, Last Poets
Rene Elizondo .... E.J
Dedrick D. Gobert .... Lloyd
Miki Howard .... Maxine
Baha Jackson .... Baha
Patricia Y. Johnson .... Patricia
Shannon Johnson .... Keisha
Tone Lōc .... J Bone
Special K. McCray .... Cousin Pete
Q-Tip .... Markell
Ernestine Reed .... Aunt April
Crystal A. Rodgers .... Angel
Eugene Tate .... Uncle Herb
Keith Washington .... Dexter
Rose Weaver .... Aunt Audrey