| Poetic Justice | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | John Singleton |
| Produced by | John Singleton Steve Nicolaides Dwight Alanzo Williams |
| Written by | John Singleton |
| Starring | Janet Jackson Tupac Shakur Regina King Joe Torry Tyra Ferrell |
| Music by | Stanley Clarke |
| Cinematography | Peter Lyons Collister |
| Editing by | Bruce Cannon |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | July 23, 1993 |
| Running time | 109 min. |
| Country | US |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $14,000,000 |
| Box office | $27,515,786 |
Poetic Justice is a 1993 drama/romance film starring Janet Jackson, Tupac Shakur, Regina King and Joe Torry. It was written and directed by John Singleton.
The main character, Justice, writes beautiful poems which she recites throughout the movie. The poems are in fact by Maya Angelou. Angelou also appears in the movie as one of the three elderly sisters, May, June and April (called the "Calendar Sisters") whom the characters meet at a roadside family reunion. The Last Poets make an appearance toward the end of the film.
Poetic Justice reached #1 in the box office its opening weekend, grossed $11,728,455. It eventually grossed a total of $27,515,786.
Jackson received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, with the Billboard Hot 100 number one song, "Again".
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Justice (Janet Jackson) is a young woman living in South Central, Los Angeles. She was named Justice by her late mother, who gave birth to her while attending law school. After the shooting death of her boyfriend (Q-Tip), Justice falls into a deep depression. She spends the majority of her time in the house she inherited from her grandmother, with her cat White Boy, only going out to her job at a local hair salon. Justice is a talented poet, she reads many of her poems throughout the course of the film, both to other characters and in voiceover.
Justice is at the hair salon working one day when a young postal clerk named Lucky (Tupac Shakur) comes in and begins flirting with her. She rebuffs his advances with the help of her female boss; the two women pretend to be lesbians and mock Lucky with their "relationship".
Lucky has also had tragedy in his life, his main focus is caring for his young daughter Keisha. He had to forcibly remove her from the care of her mother, a crack addict who was using drugs and having sex with her drug dealer while leaving the child unattended in the apartment. Lucky dreams of a professional career in music and shows considerable promise, but he insists his cousin is the true talent.
Justice's friend Iesha (Regina King) manages to talk Justice into taking a road trip to Oakland with Iesha's boyfriend Chicago (Joe Torry), and Chicago's co-worker at the post office. Justice warily accepts, mainly because she has to go to Oakland for a hair show, and her car dies at the last minute. Unbeknownst to Justice, Lucky is Chicago's co-worker also on the trip, and she will now be sharing a postal van with him and their two mutual friends. Initially they argue, but over the course of the film soften towards each other as they discover their similarities.
The foursome make a couple of detours, the first being a family reunion barbeque they see signs for on the road. It is here that it becomes apparent (although there were ample hints earlier) Iesha and Chicago's relationship is troubled. Iesha openly flirts with other men at the barbeque, while Chicago broods watching her behavior. This friction explodes shortly after the foursome return to the highway, when a drunken Iesha informs Chicago she has been seeing someone on the side and he physically attacks her. Justice defends Iesha by kicking Chicago in his groin, and when Chicago turns his physical brutality on Justice in retaliation, Lucky jumps in and ends the situation by force. Lucky, Justice, and a bleeding and shaken Iesha leave Chicago by the side of the road and continue on their journey.
When the now-threesome arrive in Oakland, they are met with the news that Lucky's cousin, with whom he had been working on recording music, has been killed. Lucky blames himself for not being in Oakland sooner, believing he could have prevented the shooting had he been in town. He turns his anger on Justice, angrily blaming her for distracting him while they were on the road.
Some months have passed, and we meet up with Justice again back at the hair salon, just at the moment Lucky brings his daughter Keisha in. Lucky is remorseful over his conduct in Oakland and the cruel words he said to Justice there. He asks for forgiveness. Instead of answering, Justice smiles coyly, and then turns her attention to Keisha, fussing over her hair. Justice and Lucky's eyes meet over Keisha's head and they smile, their connection as strong as ever.
According to Box Office Mojo, Poetic Justice made $27,515,786 in the domestic box office with the budget being $14,000,000. For its opening weekend it opened at #1 with over $11,000,000 in ticket sales.[1][2][3] It ranked #20 for the year of 1993 openings and #21 for highest R-rated movies of 1993.
Poetic Justice received mixed to negative reviews from critics. Most critics compared it to the critically acclaimed film, also by Singleton, Boyz N the Hood:
The film currently holds a 33% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 15 reviews.
The soundtrack album was released on June 29, 1993.[6]
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