Belly (film)

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Belly

Nas (left) and DMX on the Belly DVD cover.
Directed by Hype Williams
Produced by Larry Meistrich
Ron Rotholz
Robert Salerno
Hype Williams
Written by Anthony Bodden
Nas
Hype Williams
Starring Nas
DMX
Taral Hicks
Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins
Method Man
Hassan Johnson
Louie Rankin
Music by Stephen Cullo
Distributed by Artisan Entertainment
Release date(s) November 4, 1998 (USA)
Running time 96 min.
Language English
Budget $10,000,000
IMDb profile

Belly is a 1998 motion picture, the feature film debut of music video director Hype Williams. Filmed in Omaha as an urban drama, the film stars rappers DMX and Nas as Tommy and Sincere, former partners in crime who become estranged after Sincere decides to go straight and Tommy takes on a major drug deal from a Jamaican drug lord. The film also stars Taral Hicks, rappers Method Man and Vita, dancehall artist Louie Rankin and R&B singer T-Boz from TLC. Besides starring in the film, Nas also narrates and collaborated with Hype Williams on the screenplay.

The film was mildly received by critics, generally praised for its highly stylized visual design and cinematography and criticized for what critics saw as a weak plot.[1] However, it remains much more popular with hip hop audiences, and was released on DVD in 2004 in a "special edition" package. The scene in which the Jamaican drug lord's house is raided is heavily influenced by the 1983 movie, Scarface.

Belly 2, a sequel tentatively named Beast," is in the works with returning rappers/actors DMX and Nas reprising their roles.[1]

Contents

[edit] Plot

The movie begins when Tommy (DMX) and Sincere (Nas), along with fellow crew members Mark and Black, rob a nightclub. After dropping Black off, the others go to Tommy's house to hide out for a while. Their noise awakens Keisha (Taral Hicks), Tommy's girlfriend, who is trying to sleep. Sincere says that he too is tired, and he and Mark leave soonafter. Sincere returns to his house, where his wife T/Tionne (Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins) and baby Kenya wait. Back at Tommy's house, Tommy learns of a new, potent drug that is making its way to America.

After a passionate night with their women, Tommy and Sincere meet early in the morning and Tommy tells Sincere about the new drug, and also how much money they could make if they got involved with Tommy's friend Ox, a druglord who is receiving shipments. Reluctantly, Sincere agrees.

The duo, along with some of their friends from the neighborhood, start transporting drugs (hidden in their car bumpers) from New York to Omaha, Nebraska, and began to take over the drug scene there. This is met with jealousy at a local neighborhood drug dealer named Rico (Tyrin Turner), who tips off the Nebraska PD of the activities. This results in a major shoot-out at their location, in which most of Tommy's crew is killed, except for their friend Knowledge. Knowledge calls back home from the local jail and is told by Keisha that Tommy isn't there, nor should he have called home since the FBI had placed wire taps on their phone. Knowledge gets angry that Tommy won't come to bail him out, and calls up Father Sha (Method Man), to not only infultrate Rico's gang and to kill Rico, but to handle Tommy.

Meanwhile, Tommy goes to Jamaica with Ox, and killed the son of a drug lord there, as a favor to Ox. When the deceased's family found out that is was Ox who ordered the hit, they send a hit squad to kill him in his home, which is successful when a femme fatale swoops down from his top floor and slits his throat.

While this is going on, Sincere has been trying to get out of the drug game and move his girlfriend and child to Africa, despite Tommy's jokes that he was getting soft for wanting to leave. They make plans to leave on New Years, 2000. However, now Sincere is suspicious of Tommy; since the Omaha incident, Tommy has been on the run and was caught in Atlanta, GA. Sincere feels that Tommy would give him up to save himself. This was not the case. Tommy was chosen by federal agents to assassinate a Muslim leader who had been preaching against the government.

On New Years' Eve, Tommy confronts the leader in his study before he was to make a massive speech of hope and points his gun at him. The leader convinces Tommy not to go through with his mission, even though it was betraying the government and now putting his life at risk.

At the same time, Father Sha visits Keisha's home, in the hopes of finding Tommy there. Sha slaps Keisha around, but Keisha is able to grab his gun right before he was going to kill her. Instead, she turns the gun on him.

Sincere, having known everything that was going on, and surviving an attempt on his life too by one of his old friends (who felt disrespected by Tommy for making him strip earlier in the film), takes that moment to get out of New York as his family starts life over in Africa.

[edit] Filmtrack

The film contains many memorable dancehall reggae songs that are not included on the soundtrack.[2]

  1. "Back to Life (A Cappella Version)" - Soul II Soul
  2. "Wow I Made It" - Olu Dara
  3. "Blue Agony" - Olu Dara
  4. "Sincere" - Olu Dara
  5. "Windpipe" - Wu-Tang Clan
  6. "Pregame" - Sauce Money featuring Jay-Z
  7. "Sucky Ducky" - Mr. Vegas
  8. "I Wanna Live" - The Bravehearts
  9. "Blood Sweat and Tears" - M.O.P.
  10. "Swell Up" - Crucial Conflict
  11. "No Way In, No Way Out" - Lady
  12. "Grand Finale" - DMX, Method Man, Nas & Ja Rule
  13. "Two Sides" - Hot Totti
  14. "Story to Tell" - Ja Rule
  15. "Devil's Pie" - D'Angelo
  16. "Bashment Time" - Mr. Easy and Frisco Kid
  17. "Top Shotter" - DMX, Sean Paul & Mr. Vegas
  18. "Deep Cut" - David Banner
  19. "What About" - Sparkle
  20. "The Right Man" - Frisco Kid
  21. "Technology" - Temple of Soul
  22. "Bam Bam" - Sister Nancy
  23. "Silly" - Taral Hicks

[edit] Soundtrack

  1. "No Way In, No Way Out" Lady
  2. "Devil's Pie" D'Angelo
  3. "Grand Finale" DMX, Method Man, Nas & Ja Rule
  4. "Never Dreamed You Leave In Summer" Jerome
  5. "What About" Sparkle
  6. "Two Sides" Hot Totti
  7. "Movin' Out" Mýa, Raekwon & Noreaga
  8. "Top Shotter" DMX, Sean Paul & Mr. Vegas
  9. "Story To Tell" Ja Rule
  10. "Crew Love" Jay-Z, Memphis Bleek & Beanie Sigel
  11. "Sometimes" Noreaga and Maze
  12. "We All Can Get It On" Drag-On

[edit] Rated R

Strong Language, Nudity, and Strong Violence

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.allhiphop.com/Hiphopnews/?ID=5773
  1. ^  LaSalle, Mick (Nov. 4, 1998). "A Clumsy Film Debut, Williams' `Belly' Flops". San Francisco Chronicle.
  2. ^  Richberg, Chris and Williams, Houston (Jun. 12, 2006). "DMX Talks 'Beast' Sequel to 'Belly'. AllHipHop.com: Daily Hip-Hop News.

[edit] External links

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