New Jersey Drive (1995) Poster

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8/10
Best True-to-Life Movie, even still..
tybran9712 December 2002
Being from eastern PA, right on the border of Northern New Jersey, I still get a feeling like this was a documentary more so than a movie. I have friends from New York and New Jersey and this film represents the kind of lifestyle that "still" exists today in lower income area's outside of the "Big City" lifestyle. If you have not seen this movie and ever wondered what REALLY goes on in the urban jungle, check this movie out. No really big name actors, its as if they just pulled these guys off the street and said act, which adds to the realism of the movie, the performances are FANTASTIC none the less! SEE THIS FILM!
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7/10
Bad boys, bad cops, decent movie
ruffrider5 March 2006
This movie brings to mind "Boys 'n the Hood," "Menace to Society," "South Central" and others of its ilk and even shares actors with some of them. The film's "us vs. the law" mentality is underscored by the all-black neighborhood vs. the nearly all-white police force. Here the cops are so bad they seem like caricatures and in one scene they even ambush the boys as they drive by in a car they've just "liberated" from its owner. It's like a bushwhacking from an old Western, but the contemporary setting makes it look all too real.

The story centers on young Jason Petty and his buddies, to whom school is just an inconvenience that takes time away from their "real occupation" of boosting cars. This happens to be Newark, N.J., a rust-belt city low on jobs but notoriously high on crime. In fact the problem is so severe that the cops all have "Car Theft" written on their backs, to show that an entire unit must be devoted to this particular crime.

The boys use a "slim Jim" to gleefully break into cars and go joy-riding, as if it's no big deal. They only run into real trouble when the police ambush them. The vicious, Nazi-like Lt. has a vendetta against the boys, seeing them not as human beings who might be worthy of redemption, but as human targets. In fact, he's a little reminiscent of that sadistic Nazi officer of the Warsaw ghetto, who shot down Jews for pleasure in the film "Schindler's List." When the boys steal a police car in retribution for the ambush, things predictably go downhill fast. They are severely beaten by the cops and Jason finally ends up in prison. Clearly these are "bad boys," who'd steal your car in a minute, but the film wants us to see them as anti-heroes, showing Jason protecting his sister and his friend taking care of his own grandmother. The film left us wondering whose side to take and who to feel sadder for: the boys whose lives are going down the drain, the honest citizens whose cars are being stolen left and right and who could be caught in the crossfire of a shootout at any moment or the city of Newark itself, the spirit of whose law is being betrayed by brutal, soul-dead cops.

In spite of the over-the-top portrayal of the latter, the film offers a realistic-looking rendering of the ghetto, of the protagonists and their families and of the culture of car theft in a city where there appears to be only 2 career paths - law enforcement and crime. Strangely, the entire subject of drugs is never mentioned.

The filmmakers (including producer Spike Lee) are obviously biased against the Newark police, who, we hope, are not as bad they are portrayed here. Nevertheless, they've given us yet another a strong, affecting story about the inner city and black youth gone awry and Sharron Corley is fine as Jason.
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8/10
Underrated Urban Hood Film
momjessicaandjordan25 July 2021
I swear I rarely hear this movie being talked about when mentioning some of the greatest hood movies of all time. I really enjoyed this movie. It talks about young kids being car thief's. It catches up to them as Jason Petty (Sharron Corley) and his friends all find themselves on the wrong side of the law and starts to get on dangerous path in their neighborhood. I'm not going to spoil the whole the movie for those who haven't seen it but this will be a fun movie for you to watch if you love hood movies.
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a successful car-jacking if you ask me...
whoTheFuqRyou12 April 2003
New Jersey Drive is a very underrated movie to put it quite bluntly. As it's supposed to in urban movies, the street atmosphere was definitely there. The script was good because it showed a crrosroad as Jason's crew and the cops lives crossed paths, I don't wanna give this away though. Sharron Corley gives a good performance as the humble but tough Jason, as does Gabriel Casseus as the knucklehead Midget and Don Faison as Tiny Dime, etc., etc. It was also wonderfully directed by Nick Gomez and also stars Heavy D and Michele Morgan.

authentic street movie 10/10
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7/10
Tales From the Hood
gavin694211 May 2016
Jason and Midget are two young, black teenagers living in Newark,New Jersey, the unofficial car theft capital of the world. Their favorite pastime is that of everybody in their neighborhood: stealing cars and joyriding. The trouble starts when they steal a police car and the cops launch a violent offensive that involves beating and even shooting suspects.

Mayor Sharpe James refused to allow filming of New Jersey Drive within the city limits; therefore, the filming locations were in the surrounding locations of Newark rather than the city itself. I am surprised they would turn down the shooting... but, hey, I guess if you're known for being a car theft city, you don't want to support that claim.

Some have called this the best "hood" movie. I don't know. I liked it, and thought it seemed fairly accurate to how I imagine life in the streets to be. But it lacked a solid plot or story arc, and I think it suffers from that. I do like how it has no real hero -- both the thieves and the police come off as less than perfect.
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7/10
Decent, with beautiful cinematography and one fine performance
pwmoses29 May 2000
This film is pretty good, it actually is like a good wine, it gets better the more you watch it. The pace is pretty slow for such a high octane topic, but the cinematography is beautiful and surreal. There is a cool blue tint that "rides" the whole film. There is also one great performance in Gabriel Casseus' performance of the character "Midget". He is terrific. Why doesn't this guy work more. If the film got better support, he probably would have.
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7/10
Just remember who your friends are!
sol-kay8 March 2011
Warning: Spoilers
***SPOILER*** Life on the mean streets of Newark New Jersey is brutally depicted in "New Jersey Drive" that at the time, and even now, was among other things what Newark's Mayor Sharpe James wanted to keep out of the film in it being the car theft capital of the world. In fact Mayor James refused to have any footage of the movie shot within Newark city limits taking away a good part of the movies authenticity!

The movie starts with a carjacking gone bad that ends up putting one of the carjackers Ronnie Lambs, Koran C. Thomas,in the hospital on life support. Lambs and his fellow carjackers unknowingly carjacked tough take no BS Newark cop Emil Rosco's, Saul Stein, car. It was Officer Rosco who just happened to be on the scene when Ronnie and his friends were ambushed in a police string. Shot four times by Rosco Ronnie now in the hospital and no gun found on him has Rosco in deep trouble with the only witness to the shooting fellow carjacker Jason Petty, Shannon Corley, slated to testify against him before the grand jury!

This all sets the stage for Rosco hounding Jason all throughout the movie to get him to change his testimony. As for Jason he gives Rosco and the Newark Police all the rope they need to hang him by continuously going out with his friends carjacking cars thus putting his and their lives as well as freedom in jeopardy. Jason's mom Rene Petty, Gwen McGee, knows that her son is out stealing cars instead of going to school but try as she does Rene can't convince him that he'll end up either dead or behind bars as a result of his actions. It's later when his straight as an arrow sister Jackie, Samantha Brown, starts to hang out with the same crowd that Jason does that he throws a fit that almost has him gunned down by her new found "Gangsta" boyfriend Ritchie, Andre Moore. Ritchie feels that Jason "dists" him by trying to keep Jackie from ending up like him: Out of luck out of work out of school and nothing in life to look forward too!

Stealing cars together with his friend Midget, Gabe Casseus, Jason tries to make a few bucks for his troubles by selling them to this chop-chop junk yard operator, Arthur J. Nascarella, in what looks like the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn for pennies on the dollar. Despite all the business they give him the junk yard man almost throws Midget out of his place when he comes unannounced with his latest steal not wanting the cops to connect him, by buying stolen merchandise, to Midgets & Jason's criminal activities! it's later when the law finally catches up with Jason that ends with one of his many carjacking friends being gunned down that he finally realizes that this life is not for him.

****SPOILERS**** Spending 90 days behind bars in a juvenile dentition center Jason finally saw the light and decided to go back to school and put his life of crime behind him. The fact that Officer Rosco was indited in the Ronnie Lambs shooting helps also in Jason now not having to worry about Rosco framing or working him over, which he did a number of time in the movie, to keep him from talking. It was in fact Midget's fiery death is a stolen car chased by police that finally convinced Jason that he was right in his decision to go straight! It was Jasons refusal to join Midget and his friends in this latest carjacking caper that ended up saving his life!
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6/10
Fair look and depiction
jordondave-2808514 September 2023
(1995) New Jersey Drive CRIME DRAMA

During the 80's, car theft was a major problem in New Jersey with the film focusing on radical decisions made by a spontaneous 16 or 17 year old youth, Jason, who steals cars for the purpose of joy riding and perhaps to make money, like his friend Midget. When at the same time his mother's trying to set him off straight! After the recognition of John Singleton's 1991 "Boyz In The Hood", a film that was even nominated for an Oscar, more African American coming-of-age themes started to come out, that have similar plots but slightly different, these newer versions often contain more swearing, cursing, and slang, older viewers are incapable to understand, but an imitation of what used to happened in real life. In this film, we get a lot of "n" this and "n" that, and the expression "you know what I'm sayin'" after a typical discussion among young African American youths. But despite being quite raw, and a mirror reflection about what used to happen and how they dealt with it, the characters can become unrelatable, mocking the expression, ' If you break the crime, you do the time'. To get my point, the central people are arrested several times for a lot of petty crimes, the criminal activities are long and extensive, and the film doesn't elaborate too much on it, for they are underage, showing their spontaneous, rather radical responses, mostly towards the police, meaning that a lot of the stuff that this community used to do back then, would not unlikely to get away with it as of right now, such as smart aleck responses to the police and police taunting, just because the teenagers are somewhat underage can still be punished, making the overall experience of the film very outdated! The social commentary is absent, but quite obvious which says that if parents don't like the way kids talk and act like they're portrayed in this film, then why isn't the government doing anything about it, put more money to the schools that need it than the schools that can earn it! Anyways, from my standpoint, the first half of the film is like a 'Grand Theft Auto' game, whereas if the car thieves are going to get caught, they would run and hide away from the police and the police would eventually give up chase! The second half is like another "Boyz in the Hood", whereas, it would have to cost a friend's life to open his eyes, and the acting is exceptional, which is not that hard to do if you're a young tough African American street thug who can speak natural slang! This kind of lifestyle, this movie portray African Americans in New Jersey, USA may be labelled as stereotypical- you be the judge.
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10/10
"New Jersey Drive" keeps it real.
Ceelo7 November 1998
I just wanted to inform anyone who may be interested that the the movie "New Jersey Drive" was my personal favorite off alltime. I admire the work Nick Gomez and Spike Lee put into this masterpiece of a movie. This movie made quite an impression on me because of its realness and its appreciation of detail of life in urban New Jersey. It struck a chord with me, personally, because I grew up with friends like those depicted in the movie. It further made an impression with me because I used to spend time in Teaneck several years ago, so some of the characters were kept "real". At times, this movie seemed like a documentary because you didn't know whether or not these were real events taking place. Although movies like "Boys in the Hood" and "Menace II Society" grab more attention, I personally feel these movies were somewhat "enhanced" to appeal to a broader audience. "New Jersey Drive" was an uncompromising piece of "in your face" reality. Lee and Gomez covered every detail in this urban drama from the music, clothing, slang, and location.Unlike some of the movies I mentioned earlier, the actors performed as if they weren't "actors". Nothing was compromised in order to make good "theater". The only misfortune to come from this movie was the fact that many people "slept" on it. I look forward to more works of art from Nick and Spike in the hopefully near future.
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5/10
It was "right in your face"!
nesevcobbs20 May 2001
On the one hand, I felt that the movie glorified "car-jacking", but on the other hand - it kept it real and gave you a look into "the joy of the ride". The leading actor was quite convincing (not to mention, handsome as he could be) and his role showed both his desire to do something positive with his life, as well as throw caution to the wind and do his own thing!
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8/10
A great underrated gem of a movie
PersianPlaya40831 July 2008
I thought Nick Gomez's look at the gritty streets of New Jersey, where car-jackings are at an all-time high, was both thought-provoking and entertaining. This is just as good as movies like Boyz n the Hood or Menace II Society or Above the Rim. I thought the actors and the scenarios were suitable, it had a gritty realistic feel to it and was very atmospheric, whether on purpose or by raw coincidence. I liked this movie a lot, an underrated gem i found on TV and glad i caught it. Go watch this movie if you get a shot. If they don't have a DVD, they should release one. Well done Nick Gomez. IMDb Rating: 5.9. My Rating: 9/10
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1/10
You know what I'm saying?
alexisrozejones22 October 2019
Unwatchable. How many times does someone have to say "you know what I'm saying?". Lazy writing. Spike Lee should be ashamed to be attached to this cringeworthy movie. Is this supposed to be a satire of young poor black boys?
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8/10
For real
schnikoly1 September 2001
This is a very realistic movie. It's the most realistic I've seen on urban youth. The actors were great. I will look out for more films by Gomez. I had never heard of the film until someone mentioned it recently. I bought it on DVD. I was impressed. I haven't seen anything come close to life as I know it in Philadelphia. This comes real close - in fact, one scene where there is an accident (I won't spoil and give details), reminded me of a nearly identical situation in Philadelphia. At first I thought Gomez took the scene from that real-life event, but then I realized that he made the film a few years before that situation. I also agree with the point that this film didn't try to broaden its appeal by putting in Hollywood crap. Gomez also directed "Laws of Gravity" - I am eager to see it.
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The most entertaining `Growing up in the hood movie` ever made!
kd4kn30 October 2003
This film is explosive!Probably the most entertaining `Growing up in the hood movie` ever.Its made very realistic and has a brutal story of survival and police brutality against juvenile offenders.You never get board because there's something going on every time,from start to finish,and the sound track makes it even better.Its like a documentary of juvenile delinquency,mostly car thefts,and life in the toughest black suburbs in New Jersey.

Based on reality,true in every way!
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8/10
Memory Lane
piXelpiXelpiXel25 April 2009
I lived in that area (Hoboken and Jersey City)for about ten years. This film certainly captures the feel of that time and place. The dialogue is very good, the music is right and scenarios realistic. As another poster said, it looks almost like a documentary.

I like the way it humanizes these kids, who probably would have rather have been born in Westchester, but fall into what kids fall into. It just so happens that area is pretty rough.

They over-demonize the cops quite a bit, but that's to be expected. I'd say the acting is good all-around, too.

It gives the viewer some sense of how this idiocy is caused and gets blown out-of-proportion. Hopefully, the new mayor of Newark is making progress.
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True to life flick
DunnDeeDaGreat30 January 2002
New Jersey Drive is one of the most true to life flicks about urban life ever made. Nick Gomez carefully winds his tale into car thieves almost into greek tradgy. In the lead role as Jason, Shannon Corley shows great leading staus. Jason is played as a chratcer who wants a better life but is caught up with the street life. Gaberial Cassius as Midget is almost believeable. If you haven't seen this flick you should. It also has a pulse pounding soundtrack.
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8/10
Great insight on street life in the 90s
ja-191-28046515 July 2015
In this 1995 film, writer/director Nick Gomez brings to the screen a wonderful film that captures the essence of inner city life and crime in Newark, New Jersey. Car theft and joyriding is a thrilling experience for many teens as they courageously face the mean streets while trying to survive and overcome many obstacles. The story begins by introducing us to Jason Petty, a tough yet decent teen who, like many of his friends, gets his kicks out of stealing cars and having fun. As he tells the story from his point of view, Jason exposes us to how he and most of his friends deal with the unfortunate, every day occurrences in their neighborhood. From gun violence to police corruption to juvenile detention and the death of close friends, there is nothing positive for these kids to look forward to.

The acting is incredibly believable if not downright brilliant. Since the film is set in the New Jersey ghetto, the urban vernacular and the overall dialogue is truly fantastic. The cast includes Sharron Corley, Gabriel Casseus, Donald Faison of "Scrubs" and a cameo appearance of the late hip hop artist Heavy D.333
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10/10
GTA - New Jersey Drive
navrax5 June 2006
WOW I Love this movie. This is definitely added to my list of Ghetto Movies.

Juice - Starring Tupac 'I don't giva F***' Menace II Society - O-Dawg 'I'll smoke Anybody, I just don't giva F****' New Jersey Drive - Hey they steal cars in broad daylight they obviously don't giva f***

New Jersey Drive is the best hood movie ever. It is at the top of the list, menace II society is second, and juice is third, Clockers is really stupid.

The soundtrack for New Jersey Drive is Pwnage too Mac Mall & Young Lay - All about my fetti is heard through out the movie.

Lords of the underground - Burn rubber, another good song, and so is Ill & Al Scratch - don't shut down on a player

If your a fan of GTA-SA you'll freaking love this movie, AND The amazing soundtrack. The soundtrack is basically Rap about stealing cars ^_^ SWEETTTT Movie!
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New jersey drive little insight
ltfh_wilson25 March 2011
Warning: Spoilers
This movie is a good over cap of what happened in Newark. I'm young so around the time that this may have happened I was a baby. This movie gives of a realistic Vibe like your watching a documentary of the main characters life. What people don't know is some of the things in the movie is true other then Newark being the highest place of car theft. In the end when the news dispatch about the van with midget in being shot n two people being killed was true. Well the pregnant teen being shot and killed what's crazy is things like showing true action makes this movie one that keeps your eyes glued on the screen and not want to miss any part. This movie is great and is a must see.
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