On the Edge (2002)

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Willie Jo Harris (Derrick Franklin) is a young, star basketball player on the rise. His dad Frank (O'Neal) is very proud of him. But he did a stupid thing. He bought some drugs from local hood Slim Jim (Ice-T). Now he owes him a lot of money. But some goons dispatched to kill him accidentally got the wrong house and kill the wife and son of Rex Stevens (Casey). Harris asks Dakota "Dak" Smith (Williamson), an ex-cop, golf enthusiast, and private eye, for help. Now old buddies Frank, Rex and Dak have to team up to fight the gangsters and corrupt cops. One of the main targets is the ruthless assassin Felix (Busey). Will these "Original Gangsters" be able to take down the baddies and win the day? Also it is worth mentioning that Jim Brown is on hand as Chad Grant (doesn't he just look like someone named "Chad"? Come to think of it, Bernie Casey doesn't scream a guy named "Rex", so there you go), an ex-football player who runs "Challenges" Community Center. Not typecasting at all. And none other than Gloria Allred has a small role as "Councilwoman Gloria Johnson". I guess she has to get herself in front of a camera at all costs. ALL costs. Where else would Dakota go for info about the streets? Director/Star/Co-Writer Williamson corralled his old pals to appear in one last blast, and sadly, it was the last appearance of Ron O'Neal. As we've mentioned before on this site, "never have a last movie". Williamson has a nice anti-crime/drugs message here, in what can only be described as a "neo-blaxploitation" (or neoblax, for short) film. It seems to be an attempt to marry the old-school blaxploitation style of the 70's, with the newer, direct-to-video brand, represented by such titles as Dead Homiez (1993), State Property (2002), Paper Soldiers (2002), etc. Unfortunately, it has a cheap, junky feel to it, and in many scenes, the dialogue is nigh-impossible to hear because there is also some rap music blaring on the soundtrack, and it actually drowns out the actors. And don't try to turn up the volume, because the overly-loud music comes with it. So while we want to hear what The Hammer is saying, instead we hear the jam "Everybody Wants To Be A Gangsta". Luckily, it is my jam. But it just seems like a blatant attempt to "be cool" and stay hip with the kids. We, the audience, know Williamson, Casey, Brown and O'Neal don't listen to this "rap-music noise".There are some entertaining and funny things about On the Edge, not the least of which are Willie Jo Harris' hair, Ice-T's absurd suit, the usage of the (years-old by this time) "Whhaaazzzzuuuupppp?" - I assume that's how you spell it, and the presence of Gary Busey. Sure, he's not using his classic word he pioneered in Bulletproof (1988), "Butthorn", but luckily he has a great mixed-metaphor line with: "This has all the makings of a setup...but I'm holding the ace." And if you've ever wanted to see Busey do a drive-by shooting in the same movie as Williamson's classic "Fred-Fu", this is the movie for you.But the true headline for On the Edge should be "Bernie Casey with a rocket launcher". 'Nuff said.Inexplicably ending with the word "Gone!", On the Edge is notable for its cast of lovable favorites, but it might be wise to stick with the more classic-era Fred Williamson titles.

Fred 'The Hammer' Williamson(..who also directs)headlines an impressive cast as a semi-retired private dick(..and ex-cop) named Dak who decides to help an old friend's son, Willie Joe(Derrick Franklin), a potential basketball prospect who gets caught up in drugs(..and the money that comes with it), involving a small-time dealer, Slim(Ice-T) who works for a mysterious crime boss(The Hammer keeps his identity secret throughout until towards the end). The crime boss enlists the services of a smart and sadistic hit-man, Felix(Gary Busey)who cleans up a mess left by his employer's bumbling goons when the coordinated the wrong hit, killing the innocent wife and son of Rex Stevens(Bernie Casey)simply due to a miscalculation regarding the wrong address. So Rex and Dak join forces to shake down Slim in order to uncover the main one responsible for the drugs and killing. Other familiar faces include Ron O'Neal as Willie Joe's concerned father, Frank, and big Jim Brown as Chad Grant, a renowned community leader organizing a coalition to help keep street youth out of trouble and committed to a better future.For some reason, 'On the Edge' just never quite takes off..it's all rather unspectacular, uninspired, and ordinary. Even the shootouts and action sequences lack punch. One thing's for sure, The Hammer assembled a rockin' cast of old pros to distinguish his film, and that quality alone is certain to bring fans of 70's and 80's B flicks and blaxploitation to his movie. But, for a movie about street crime and the violence that erupts from bad decisions in accordance when associated with drug dealers and their money, it lacks a gritty component that is often part and parcel with others of it's ilk. Not a whole lot of blood during the outbursts of gunfire, either. Seeing Casey fire off a rocket launcher is pretty cool, though, and Williamson's effortless charisma helps keep 'On the Edge' afloat..it's not a total bore, but one can see, I imagine, the lack of budget Williamson and company had for more effective action scenes, containing violent acts between the rival factions. Busey gets to kill a hell of a lot of people, sneaking up to either put a bullet or knife in them, and continues to assault even after his own employer betrays him(..he loves the job, I guess). Casey opts to keep his performance restrained, his Rex emotionally wrenched and exhausted, only half-heartedly seeking revenge. Ice-T has a rather limited role, which is disappointing, because he seems to be having fun as a small-time hood, operating a tiny stripper club, all smiles, demanding to get paid on time or else, believing he's a big shot, when, in actuality, his Slim isn't. Williamson's pace is laid back and the score is minimalist. Popular radio talk show host(..and celebrated attorney)Gloria Allred shows up in a cameo as a councilwomen whose inside information tips off Dak that the Mr. Big he's after has political ties. Jim Brown's role is rather minor, helping out Dak when Rex gets gut-stabbed by Felix and is momentarily hospitalized. Williamson seems to be enjoying himself, and I can understand why..he has a chance to be a director and work with many of his friends. There's a sincere message about ridding street crime and how the youth are corrupted at the heart of the film.

All the actors did a great job of trying to act and some were better than others, and I really must give them credit for trying to act with a story that we have heard over and over again. Fred Williamson, (Dakota Smith)," Soft Target",'05, plays the role of a guy who takes the law into his own hands after a horrible killing which involves him personally. There is dope being pushed in the neighborhood to young high school athlete's and it causes all kinds of problems. Some families are killed needlessly and for no reason there is lots of blood shed through out the town. Gary Busey,(Felix) "Buckaroo",'05 plays a good supporting role, however, the story is very weak and the actors sure have a hard time trying to act in this film.

Just as ORIGINAL GANGSTERS (six or so years earlier) FRED WILLIAMSON tries to kick start the whole BLAXPLOITATION genre, with this well meaning (but lackluster) effort. WILLIAMS stars as 'Dakota Smith' (great name!) all-round good guy (ex-cop) do-gooder, who agrees to help a would-be basketball star, who's in trouble with shady drug dealers (played none other by ICE T, in what must have been his 43rd movie that year) First the dealers kill the wrong family (that turns out to be BERNIE CASEY's) and then the basketball players dad (RON O'NEIL T.N.T) all get together (plus a cameo by JIM BROWN) to take on the dealers (and a gang of 'crooked cops'(tm)) WILLIAMSON, who also directs under his (not-so) legendary PO'BOY production company, hasn't really come on much as a director since the seventies. This wouldn't be a bad thing, but there's only so many times you can watch inept gunmen (led by a spaced out GARY BUSEY!) miss easy (and slow moving) targets, such as our geriatric heroes, before the whole thing becomes laughable. Plus the main reason that genuine 'blaxploitation' works so well, is as a time-capsule, in 2002, however, with roaming gang banging killers everywhere, it seems a lot harder to buy into this 70's macho image in modern times. On a plus side, B-movie fans (like myself) will be in heaven, and the movie has a goodish soundtrack (and it's nowhere near as abysmal as recent ICE T/ALBERT PYUN sh*t-feasts) But the good soundtrack, sometimes drowns out a poor audio track (plus the music stops and starts whenever it pleases, this adds to the overall cheesiness of the picture)All in all, it's a pretty good B-movie, but it'll do little to bring back the good old days of 'too-black-too-strong' style of film-making. Maybe WILLIAMSON should stay in front of the camera (he had a pretty good role in STARSKY AND HUTCH recently)A must-see (if only once) for fans of the genre, but HELL UP IN HARLEM, COFFY, TRUCK TURNER, SUPERFLY it isn't 6 out of 10