Movie #51 - Above the Rim

"The Hardest Part Of Winning Is Choosing Sides."

This movie showcases the acting talents of Tupac Shakur at a time when his rap career was at his peak. Not only does Shakur portray the role of the villain effectively, you can see how much potential this rap genius truly had.

For those of you that watched the movie Juice, you know that Tupac excels as the villain, despite coming off at the beginning as an ally. In both films, Shakur steals the scenes from the protagonist and by the end of each film, you really hate the character that he has depicted.

Overall, this movie has some highs and lows. The casting of Leon, Marlon Wayans, and Bernie Mac seem out of place - but I guess they didn't want to splurge on casting Samuel L. Jackson - especially as they didn't have a place to put him in this movie.

In the end, the best part of this movie are the cool basketball scenes combined with the soundtrack. You cannot go wrong with Nate Dogg and Warren G's rendition of "Regulate" on this soundtrack.

Its also a breath of fresh air to see a strong villain in a movie like this - which really drove the film to the end. As a fan, I would've liked to have seen Shakur establish himself as a villain in other roles, but he has definitely paved the way for other rappers wannabe actors to make the jump onto the small and big screens.