Poetic Justice was the follow-up to the epic early 90s hit, Boyz n the Hood by John Singleton. As a teenager, I loved Boyz n the Hood and I feel like it holds up very well to this day. I was dating a girl in high school and I vividly remember renting Poetic Justice from the video store because (would have been in 1995) it said “from the director of Boyz n the Hood” on the box and it had Janet Jackson and 2Pac in it who were huge stars at the time.
How to Download Poetic Justice
Poetic Justice was released on July 23, 1993. You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice.
The Movie Review
At the time I was not exactly thrilled by what I was seeing! It was not what I expected at all from the guy who did Boyz in the Hood! However, in watching it again recently, I can appreciate what John Singleton was doing here. I would still not say that this is a favorite of mine, but if someone told me that they loved this movie, I could appreciate why.
Characters in the Movie
We have two main characters in this movie. First, we have Justice who is a poet and who works as a hairdresser. Justice is still grieving after the death of her boyfriend in a shooting. Janet Jackson is great as Justice. You can truly feel her pain and the various poems that she reads during the movie got to me when I watched it recently. As a dumb teenager, I did not appreciate them, but now I can see the beauty and tragedy in them.
Our other main character is called Lucky and Lucky is played by one of the most iconic rap artists of all time, 2Pac. Lucky is not what you would expect from 2Pac. Lucky is a mailman and he is just trying to do right by his daughter. He has a real charm about him, but there is a truly kind soul to him as well.
Plot Summary
The first meeting of Lucky and Justice does not go all that well. He thinks that she is super cute, but she wants nothing to do with him. Justice and Lucky are forced to spend time together and get to know each other as they embark on a road trip in his mail van with Justice’s friend Lesha and her boyfriend Chicago! They are both heading to Oakland for different reasons, Justice to be part of a hair show and Lucky to try and do something with his cousin in the music world.
Conclusion
For me, Poetic Justice is a movie about loss and trying to move on from that loss. I have read a great deal about how it is a movie about what it was like to be young and black in America at the time. I do think that the movie is not bad, but it is rather predictable. I would certainly not have this in my all-time 90s classics list. However, I will say that 2Pac and Janet Jackson are great here and you truly do care about their characters.
