"King" David(DMX, who's... a better rapper than he is an actor; in general, the performances are "fine" or worse), a charming scumbag(who does genuinely possess both qualities), returns to pay his debts to Moon, the dealer he screwed over, among others(and to narrate this entire thing, as his exploits in LA are shown in flashback). Only it's too late. He's done too much to just "make amends", and he doesn't realize in time. His return sparks a series of events involving both of the aforementioned, and Mike, who works for the latter and is very protective of his sister. You can somewhat figure out a number of the places this story of revenge and karma goes, but at least it does take itself seriously, keeping to the bleak tone throughout. The environment is brutal and unflinching. There's essentially no likable characters in this, just degrees of despicable. That's intentional, it's part of the approach, but it does make it a straining viewing experience. At least it does keep to a nice pace and it gets going immediately. It's pretty tense and exciting. This is largely realistic and psychologically credible. The hand-held cinematography is quite good(and immersive), if the occasional 90 degree angle turn is off-putting. There is a lot of graphic, bloody violence, disturbing content, strong language and direct sexuality in this. The DVD comes with an informational and interesting commentary track(with the star, director and screenwriter), 10 minutes of "meh" deleted scenes, a 5 and a half minute decent making of featurette, trailers for Inkasso, Saw, Paparazzi, The Machinist, Af Banen, Hotel Rwanda, Merchant of Venice, A Home at the end of the World and this. I recommend this to fans of gruesome ghetto dramas. 6/10
Review of Never Die Alone
