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List Price: $9.98 | | Label: 20th Century Fox
Salesrank: 45097
Released: March 6, 2001 |
| Our Price: $3.20 |
| Used Price: $1.48 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
In his dazzling leading-role debut, Usher Raymond (Billboard's "Star Of The Year") plays Lester, the troubled teen who has finally been pushed to his limit. Taking matters into their own hands, Lester and his friends hold a police officer (Forest Whitaker) hostage and barricade themselves inside the school. Negotiator Audrey McDonald (Vanessa L. Williams) struggles to maintain peace while tensions simmer inside. As the crisis builds, "The Lincoln Six" discover talents they didn't know they had as their fight to expose dismal classroom conditions gains national attention. Starring "a cast of gifted newcomers" (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times), this powerful and uplifting film lit up audiences around the nation.
Description of Light it Up:
It makes sorrowful sense that a 1999 revision (albeit unofficial) of John Hughes's The Breakfast Club would involve guns on a high school campus, a children's crusade fought on the Internet, a handful of adolescents imprisoned by their fight-or-flight reputations in the inner city, and... oh yes, Judd Nelson. Nelson, who played the heavy-metal lout from a violent home in The Breakfast Club, shows up here as a hip history instructor named Knowles, so committed to his students in deplorable classroom circumstances that he leads them to friendlier digs off-campus and is suspended for his efforts.
Already outraged about an earlier run-in with a high-strung security guard (Forest Whitaker)--who later pulls a gun on the most harmless kid at school--young Lester (Usher Raymond) wounds the guard, leads a takeover of the building, and oversees authorship of an online manifesto explaining his actions. While supporters, detractors, and cops jockey for position outside, Lester and his fellow rebels, a perfect mix of teenage archetypes who normally would have little to do with one another, unburden their souls. The Hughes Effect kicks in as Lester reveals that his decent father was killed by racist cops, that a Sal Mineo-type (Robert Richards) is beaten at home, that a pregnant girl (Sara Gilbert) wasn't even kissed by the creep she slept with, etc. Writer-director Craig Bolotin, unlike Hughes, can't persuade us to overlook the convenient symmetries and complementary struggles among his outcasts. Everything begins to feel forced after awhile, heading toward a prefabricated finish, though Bolotin's good intentions are not without some emotional impact. --Tom Keogh
Light it Up Reviews:
A Must See Movie 
2007-02-09 - Usher was very good in this movie. This movie shows that even kids have a voice and want to be heard. i really enjoy watching it and i would recommend anyone who likes movies to get this.
Great. Just Great.
2006-02-03 - Well, usually I'm not into movies like this. My DVD collection consist of fantasy, comedy, and a little bit of horror. However, this one I just happened to see on tv. It was a instant hit with me. It speaks the truth, and the die hard facts behind it all. It shows you to respect your fellow man, and not just jump to conclusions. It doesn't matter if your black or not, you will feel for this movie. I ain't black, and I did. Acting is great as well.
And I just wanted to note, whoever it was that gave it 1 star seems to be a minor that just likes writing bad reviews. Do notice that all the other reviews are good.
"The Negotiator" with a meaning
2005-10-21 - This is really a great movie, because sometimes we all just want to take a stand, no matter what we have to do, legal or illegal. It even blends a little bit of comedy with the drama. Those kids were stuck inside that highschool that had little heating the classrooms were like icebergs. Usher is a great actor. This is definitely worth watching.
Actually worthy of 10 stars!!
2005-10-12 - This is a must see for anyone who works with or has any dealings with young people. It will help you remember not to judge a book by the cover. To help our young people become all they were created to be, we need to start showing them that we believe in them and know they have what it takes to be successful adults. If you see a young person who seems to be hurting, reach out to him or her. You'd be amazed at what a smile or a hug can do for someone who feels noone cares.
Good movie
2005-03-07 - It was actually EXCELLENT. It has my man Usher in it incl. the whole cast Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Williams, Forest Whitaker, Sara Gilbert, Fredro Starr (he's bad), the whole list goes on and on.
I was laughin' to death when a lot of craziness goin' on inside the movies from the guns poppin, the police chasin', a lotta people gettin' out of the school 'cuz of emergency, lot of mad talkin and fussin' goin on and all that other s**t. Y'know what I mean. Anyway the list goes on and on.
This is similar to those that don't like gangsta rap nor hip-hop/rap, mainstream music, soundtracks, gangsta movies, or whatever it is, it doesn't matter. I believe it's telling us to watch out 'cuz a lotta people are watching us.
For fans that love Menace II Society, Lean on Me, Stand and Deliver, Dangerous Minds, Jason's Lyric, Above the Rim, Boyz in the Hood, The Temptations, the TV show CHEATERS or JERRY SPRINGER (which I watched to this day), New Jack City, Malcolm X, etc. must check it out 'cuz it shoulda won a Academy Award.
Congrats for Usher for making a good film. He should deserve it.
