3 Strikes

If you're the type of person who really enjoys hearing the F-word and the N-word emerge at a rate of about five-per-minute from the mouths of black folks, then by all means check out 3 Strikes, the directorial debut of Friday co-creator D.J. Pooh. The story of a small-time hood (Brian Hooks) who is released from jail following his unjust incarceration for a second felony, then accidentally becomes a suspect in a shooting, is ostensibly a satirical condemnation of the California Penal Code and the lack of true justice for underprivileged black men. It would be a noble cause, too, if Pooh didn't completely undermine his own message by depicting every young black man onscreen as a sex-crazed, inept, pot-smoking thief, save for David Alan Grier's cop character, who's depicted as a cowardly sell-out. And don't think the women escape unscathed, either: if a white director were to depict black female characters as the ball-busting temptresses seen here, he'd never be able to show his face in public again. It would be easier to forgive some of the film's excesses, however, if it were actually funny; this movie's idea of hilarity is a lecherous uncle who farts and snorts. The soundtrack is loaded with second-rate gangsta rap that's still aping Dr. Dre's The Chronic almost 10 years later. In comparison with 3 Strikes, the watered-down (and D.J. Pooh-free) Next Friday looks like a comedic masterpiece.