‘New Jersey Drive’ captures street life

‘New Jersey Drive’ captures street life

Gomez’ direction adds emotional intensity to film

By Michael Horowitz

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Nic Gomez has given the urban crime genre another go around with
New Jersey Drive. Based on real tales of carjacking frenzies in the
title state, this film is more interesting as a study of the
progression of the format than an actual film.

Sharron Corley plays Jason Petty, a troubled African-American
youth walking the now-familiar line between criminal excitement and
clean living. On the illegal side is Midget (Gabe Caseus), the
requisite bad seed showoff, likeable enough until he does something
really stupid, and on the home front is the ubiquitous good mother
trying to save her child. The only thing Gomez has left to do is
map out how the violence increases before everybody realizes their
errors.

The film does have a couple of new ideas, and the constant
carjackings keep our combatants driving a new vehicle a scene, from
classy sports cars to cheesy Aerostar vans. Yet Gomez fails to
develop the ultimate foe of the protagonists, an evil cop named
Emil Roscoe (Saul Stein), past scenes of him threatening the boys
and overstepping the law. His only motivation seems to be to
escalate the violence.

Yet the power of New Jersey Drive isn’t muted just because we’ve
seen this before. Gomez gives the movie an authentic feel and
captures the pull of the street. He grabs the audience in scenes of
emotional intensity and his actors have the skills to pull them
off.

This is hardly an improvement on Menace II Society, which did
everything better and more. But stories like that at the heart of
New Jersey Drive continue to compel because these things are still
happening.

FILM: New Jersey Drive. Directed by Nic Gomez. Starring Gwen
McGee, Gabe Caseus and Saul Stein. Opens today.