Paid In Full 2002

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: In this bird's-eye-view of the drug trade circa 1986, there's something missing: the buyers. Read more

John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press: Though filmed partly in Canada, Paid in Full has clever ways of capturing inner-city life during the Reagan years. Read more

Keith Cassidy, Miami Herald: An intelligent crime drama, not because of the criminal activity it dramatizes but because of its powerful examination of the forces that drive criminals. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: I'm going to give it a marginal thumbs up. I liked it just enough. Read more

Susan Stark, Detroit News: Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: It's good, hard-edged stuff, violent and a bit exploitative but also nicely done, morally alert and street-smart. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: Instead of a hyperbolic beat-charged urban western, it's an unpretentious, sociologically pointed slice of life. Read more

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. Read more

Houston Chronicle: Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: A fake street drama that keeps telling you things instead of showing them. Read more

Tom Sime, Dallas Morning News: Performances are strong, especially that of Mr. Wood. Read more

Ernest Hardy, L.A. Weekly: Lazily directed by Charles Stone III ... from a leaden script by Matthew Cirulnick and novelist Thulani Davis. Read more

Newsday: Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The movie is ambitious, has good energy and is well-acted, but tells a familiar story in a familiar way. Read more

Carla Meyer, San Francisco Chronicle: Needed a little less bling-bling and a lot more romance. Read more

Ben Kenigsberg, Village Voice: Set in a 1986 Harlem that doesn't look much like anywhere in New York. Read more