DIRECTOR'S LACK OF CONFIDENCE MAKES `SOUTH CENTRAL' SUFFER

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, January 30, 1993                   TAG: 9301300215
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JEFF MILLAR THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
DIRECTOR'S LACK OF CONFIDENCE MAKES `SOUTH CENTRAL' SUFFER
Good intentions will need to count a lot for you if you decide to go see "South Central." First-time writer-director Steve Anderson makes a not-unusual beginner's mistake: He doesn't have confidence in the inherent power of his material.
The subject matter is vital and immediate. It's set in South Central Los Angeles, the site of the spring riots and of John Singleton's "Boyz N the Hood."
It's about the heartbreaking cycle of alienation that gets young black males into gangs and keeps the cycle going through generations.
The grandfather is in jail. The grandson, at 10, is expert at stealing car radios. The father, Bobby (Glenn Plummer), at the focus of the film, is about to be released from prison after serving a 10-year sentence for murdering a drug dealer on behalf of his gang, the Deuces.
In prison he has shared a cell with Ali (Carl Lumbly), who sees in Bobby a candidate for breaking this woeful chain. By directing Bobby toward a pride-oriented African religion, Ali sends Bobby out the prison door with at least a reasonable chance of saving his son Jimmie (Christian Coleman) from exploitation at the hands of Bobby's once-blood-brother Ray-Ray (Byron Keith Minns), the leader of the Deuces.
Bobby deeply loves his son, who has been inadequately cared for by the boy's drug-addict-prostitute mother Carole (LaRita Shelby). But Jimmie has no active memory of his father. His father's messages seem unmanly compared to Ray-Ray's macho gang-banging.
Anderson, who adapted his film from a novel by Donald Baker, struggles against the tether of his budget. He has a few moments where the film works on the terms he hopes. The performances by the principals are good; when we get to the supporting roles, however, the quality of the acting interacts negatively with Anderson's tendency to pump his story for melodrama.
In consequence, we're seldom without Anderson's elbow in our ribs, making sure we realize that this is tough stuff. It is tough stuff. The film works best when it's letting its often powerful verisimilitude speak for itself.

South Central
Rated R. Showing in Roanoke at Towers Theatre and Terrace Theatre. Rated R.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB