But while his stoic driven demeanor can be a drag most of the time, a surprising comic relief is Damon Dash (Dame) who plays his ultimate rival. It’s cheesy in most regards but also somewhat fun (in a sick way) whether it’s clubbing a rival dealer to death in an alley or assaulting a gang leader in a hail of bullets in broad daylight on a basketball court, I just can’t pull away from it!īeans is all business outside of the love he has for his girl and his daughter the guy can’t relax for one second as his ambition consumes every aspect of his life especially among his lieutenants.
Beans’ rise to power is one of pure bloodshed and extreme force. While I am drawn to the stories of the ascent to dominance in stories like this (for example: Scarface and how it shows going from nothing to extreme wealth), there is something grimy and unclean about this particular retelling that will, honestly, either draw a viewer in or push them away. The way the story plays out, it’s as simple as that by sheer will, Beans (Beanie Sigel) systematically and effortlessly bumps off all his cemented rivals and takes over the drug-selling operations in his hometown of Philadelphia (the setting being the lone twist in this tale). The story isn’t an original one a disenfranchised and disillusioned inner city tough aspires for something greater and sees establishing a drug empire as a means to that end. State Property can probably be described as a vanity piece a 100-minute music video produced by Roc-a-Fella Records that stars several of its acts like Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek, and Jay (now with no ‘dash’) Z. State Property doesn’t meet those in quality but damn if I can’t stop watching it when it’s on TV.
New Jack City, King of New York, Paid in Full, Colors… those are among the best. Generally speaking, I love urban crime/gangster dramas, usually period pieces specifically from the 80s and 90s.
There is no better definition of a “guilty pleasure” than my love of the movie State Property.