A Rage in Harlem (1991) User Reviews

Violent and dark...but I liked it

[preppy-3 · 7/10 · 18 July 2007]

This takes place in 1956. Imabelle (Robin Givens) gets away from her mobster boyfriend with a stash of gold he stole. She drives from Mississippi to NY and hides out totally unaware that her boyfriend and his gang are after her. She gets an overweight, naive and trusting man named Jackson (Forest Whitaker) to love her--but then her boyfriend shows up. She leaves him but Jackson gets his brother Goldy (Gregory Hines) to help him find her.

That may sound a little plot heavy...but that's only the first hour! This movie is way too convoluted and far too long. Also Hines and Givens are just not good actors. They try but they can't pull this off--although Givens looks great in some of her costumes. Still I did like this.

Some previous posters pointed out that this is extremely bloody and that's very true. Also it has strong doses of black humor. Still, it didn't bother me. If anything it gave the film a few nice jolts. It's well directed by Bill Duke, has great period detail (love the cars!) and (aside from Givens and Hines) has plenty of good acting. So, if you like extreme violence, black humor and gangster movies this should work for you. I give it a 7.

Harlem's finest

[PredragReviews · 7/10 · 1 June 2016]

The story revolves around a chest of gold. People find it and lose it, people kill and die for it. Deceit is the currency for everyone. Well, for everyone but Jackson, whose candid innocence and unwavering faith in his love and his Imabelle brings some light in what's basically a very dark tale. And this is true even with all the humor and the wit which is indeed in the story. There's violence here, there's bad things happening, but there's tenderness too, and caring, and straightforward humour. The actors are familiar stars, back when a bit younger (produced in 1991). But their talent is very evident here, shown through every twist and tumble of the cliff-hangers throughout the film. And the print is fine indeed; along with all production values. Forest Whitaker, Danny Glover, Robin Givens and Gregory Hines all give their all; everything, action, bawdy humor, music, all shine through.

The fast pace, the witty dialogues, the honest rendering of human flaws and strength reminded me a lot of the book, even if some of the dynamics are different. Still I enjoyed what's new in the film as much as I enjoyed everything in the book. One of the new ideas I particularly enjoyed is the larger importance of Imabelle character inside the story. She has a larger part, her story starts first and is presented in more detailed, and she comes across as an exceptionally hard-boiled, and still very vulnerable characters. This was just a good fun heist film set back in Harlem's hay day. Take a ride back into time and have a good laugh, you will be glad you did.

Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

Good, but nothing like the novel

[goatboy500 · 6/10 · 4 August 2006]

This is a pretty good, violent, gangster romp directed with definite panache by Bill Duke. Forrest Whitaker plays a decent upstanding Christian boy how gets embroiled in hokey plot involving stolen money (or something) and Robin Givens. Different groups of parties are all after the dough (including Forrest's good for nothing brother Gregory Hines), when Forrest just wants the girl. Its pretty hackneyed stuff, but the players (in particular the great Gregory Hines and the baddass Danny Glover) elevate it to a standard that just serves to entertain and no more.

It also features a great recurring joke about a picture of Jesus that I won't spoil.

The only problem I have with this film is that the book it's based on is actually nothing like this. The first scene in the barn is lifted from the book, but everything else has been changed. The two cops in the film, Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed are Chester Hime's greatest creations, but here they're just an obstacle for Whittaker (who in the book is actually a supporting character and is a coward, here he is the against all the odds hero of the piece). If you haven't read Chester Hime's novels you won't notice, but be prepared to be disappointed with the liberties taken with the story.

On it's own though, this is an accomplished movie from the talented Mr Duke, who's next movie was one of the best of the nineties, Deep Cover.

black gangster movie

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 6 February 2022]

Seductress gun moll Imabelle (Robin Givens) escapes a gunfight with white police in Mississippi and steals a trunk full of gold ending up in Harlem. Religiously devoted undertaker Jackson (Forest Whitaker) is a pushover and he completely falls under her spell. His brother Goldy (Gregory Hines) is a gangster. Easy Money (Danny Glover) is a more ruthless mobster. Scary men from the south have arrived looking for the gold.

Jackson needs an early scene with Goldy to set up their relationship. Robin Givens uses all her sex appeal. Whitaker is always good. In this one, he's forced to bend a bit too far. He can be this pushover but he can't be clueless. At times, he drifts into cluelessness. The writing is not always the best. Everybody is acting over the top in gangster style. It adds an interesting but flawed movie.

The storyline wasn't as compelling to me as Duke's Hoodlum but it is still entertaining and worth a viewing

[kevin_robbins · 7/10 · 22 June 2021]

A Rage in Harlem (1991) is a movie I watched for the first time in a long time on Amazon Prime. The storyline involves the woman of a drug lord who steals a briefcase of money and needs to find a quick and cheap place to live. She stashes away with a virgin, religious mamas boy who would appear to have no hope with her. Her misfortunes may lead to his good fortunes. This movie is directed by Bill Duke (Hoodlum) and stars Robin Givens (Boomerang), Forest Whitaker (Fast Times at Ridgemont High), Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon) and Zakes Mokae (The Serpent and the Rainbow). The storyline for this picture is fairly straightforward but entertaining. Badja Djola (The Last Boy Scout) played a solid villain and Givens delivered a sly and unpredictable character well. Whitaker was great as the clumsy lover boy too. The cast and execution was perfect. The storyline wasn't as compelling to me as Duke's Hoodlum but it is still entertaining and worth a viewing. I'd score this a 6.5/10.

Yeech!

[alex20850 · 1/10 · 12 January 2005]

Nasty, unforgiving, unrelenting blood sport. I watch war movies and don't bat an eye except for Saving Private Ryan, but this is downright sickening. I went because I liked Forrest Whittaker, but it was so savage, so sick with violence just for violent's sake that I was shocked. I also took a date and it was lucky that we had seen other movies together because she would have had real doubts about me if this was my kind of movie. The movie reminded me of news stories about people killing puppies and torturing cats. I still have nightmares about this movie. The reviewer for the Washington Post at the time called it an urban comedy. If this is his version of a comedy, I never want to see another one.

On Yeech's Review

[playthellgb · 4 May 2019]

I saw the movie and it was GREAT!!! It is based on a novel by the great absurdist writer Chester Himes and overflowing with outstanding talent! . This review is just STUPID!!! Pay it no mind!!! See the movie for yourself.

Hard to keep a straight face, or food down...

[Director Jim · 5/10 · 28 June 2003]

Watching this movie, I was reminded of Harlem Nights constantly. But, whereas the other is meant to be funny, I fear that 'Rage' is 5 stars short of being a good drama. I hate to spoil anything for the fortunate viewer that has yet to see the movie, but to avoid a sour stomach, pass on this one. I can only think of a few war movies that had more killings than this did. And with the 'can't-catch-my-breath' action (at times senseless), the movie-goer may just hyper-ventilate themselves to sleep.

Outrage in Harlem

[view_and_review · 3/10 · 22 August 2018]

What do you get when you mix some Mississippi bumpkins, a gold heist, and some Harlemites? A joke of a movie.

The movie was going in a decent direction before it fell off the rails--and this was in spite of the fact that I don't even like the sight of Robin Givens' face or the fact that Jackson (Forest Whitaker) was the most gullible man on planet Earth. Yes, with those two major drawbacks I still thought the movie was going somewhere.

Then, somewhere midway through the movie, somewhere in Harlem the movie became a confluence of idiocy. Every character did one hair-brained thing after another and the least stupid of them would be the victor--that or the luckiest of them.

In the end the movie was one big joke with only a few parts actually eliciting a laugh.

A great comedy/thriller

[Cabbageandsprouts · 9/10 · 9 July 2006]

I think this is an underrated classic. A story of gold,double-cross,love,revenge and death all served up with great humour nicely by the main characters. The acting is great especially Forest Whittaker as the loser who eventually comes good. Robin Givens is superb and sexy in this role as she steals the gold from her partners and goes on the run. The late great Gregory Hines is also in top form as Whittaker's brother who is only interested in the gold at first. Badja Djola plays a memorably vicious villain and Danny Glover pops up as a rival gangster who "had another dream" about Givens - much to the fury of Djola. This film has some great comic moments. The music score by Elmer Bernstein is also superb.

Very TOUGH Movie

[benlael · 1/10 · 29 August 2016]

This movie is TERRIBLE-ly funny to me - the characters are all just totally "CHARACTERS!" - colloquially speaking! So the many prior mixed reviews are likely because this may not be a cultural expression that everyone can or wants to appreciate. I think another reviewer noted this may not play well in what amounts to less 'cosmopolitan' parts of the U.S. It is thereby easy to see why a few 'good old boys' getting shot up is "violent!" (But war movies, werewolves, cannibalism and the like are - not so bad?) This, even though the movie and writer have billed this as an action comedy, loosely based on Chester Himes' novel.

I found that Robin, Forrest, Gregory, and Danny were all absolutely perfect in their roles, but most especially that indefatigable Forrest: "I ain't movin' - I ain't movin'..." And Miss Givens' Immabelle is ICONIC as many others have said. She PLAYS that role (a la Mike Tyson?). Then there's the dark, dangerous Djola, who I thought has been totally overlooked and underrated for his unforgettable role as the 'leader of the pack.' I thought he and his baritone voice portrayed an entertaining, impavid, two gun bad guy, without being vicious or ruthless.

I believe this movie is delightful with its twists and turns, and truly colorful characters. Bill Dukes is an outstanding Director! (Hence, the five-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival!) I gave it a one star because there will be some who go to WORST RATING first to see why they WON'T like this...

One the best gangster films ever

[dee.reid · 10/10 · 8 February 2002]

Robin Givens stars in this brilliant action-comedy-crime-thriller flick about a gangster's moll, who after a bloody shoot-out in the beginning, flees to Harlem with a trunkload of gold. She later finds herself involved with a shy assistant(the always dependable Forest Whitaker). They predictably fall in love and pretty soon Givens' presumed dead boyfriend comes to town looking for her and the gold.

As my one line summary states it, this is one the best gangster movies ever made. In the vein of such gangster films like "The Untouchables" or "Hoodlum", "A Rage in Harlem" ranks pretty high up there. Director Bill Duke who directed Laurence Fishburne in the very stylish "Deep Cover" and the gritty "Hoodlum" is at the top of his game here. The 1950s setting really adds to the overall greatness of this movie.

Robin Givens is excellent and very beautiful in a role that seems almost perfectly suited for her. Forest Whitaker plays his role almost too good. Not only does fit his part but he looks it as well.

To sum it up, this movie is excellent. The direction, acting, and casting are all top notch.

10/10

Sing it again, Screamin' Jay!

[kennethwright45 · 9/10 · 12 September 2003]

(Includes one minor spoiler, but it's unrelated to the plot and really more of a recommendation.)

Surprised to see so few votes and comments for A Rage in Harlem - it was a modest commercial hit in Britain, so perhaps the all-black casting and setting just didn't play Peoria.

The tone of this stylish, good-looking period crime adventure swings wildly between brutal, raunchy, tragic and comic, but a clever, funny script and likeable characters - especially Gregory Hines's big-hearted wiseguy Goldy, but also several delightfully written minor roles - maintain attention and sympathy throughout what could otherwise have been a bumpy ride. It's an emotionally engaging film, much more character-driven than the average urban thriller of the 1990s.

Its purely incidental pleasures are many, topped by a splendid musical treat in the shape of cult R 'n' B hero Screamin' Jay Hawkins, giving a no-holds-barred performance of his voodoo classic I Put a Spell on You at the Harlem Undertakers' Ball. If you have a taste for the old school of black show business, this sequence will have you holding up the rest of the picture until you've given Screamin' Jay an encore.

Thrills, laughs, and pathos, dished up with verve and heart, make a film that many of us still remember very affectionately.

Outrageous

[Newsense · 10/10 · 10 January 2009]

A Rage In Harlem is probably one of the most slept-on comedy/action features of all time. It had an all-star cast and didn't waste them and under the direction of Bill Duke, it succeeded in what it needed to be.

The story: Imabelle is a pretty female crook that leaves for Harlem after taking the money from the last heist she pulled with her crew with her. She meets up with a naive milksop named Jackson(Forest Whitaker)and uses his naiveté' to her advantage. She later ends up falling for him but things get worse when her gang shows up to his apartment.

A Rage In Harlem is interesting when its funny and is interesting when its not being funny. Its funny without trying too hard and it captures the 1930s era of Harlem. Plus it has nightclubs where people actually perform(hell, Harlem Nights didn't even have that). Forest Whitaker is good as the naive Jackson and Gregory Hines(RIP) is also good as his cousin Goldy. Robin Givens is great as the gorgeous but deceptive Imabelle. They have a little chemistry with each other even though I could do without the scene where Jackson licks her buns(YUCK!). Too raunchy for my taste. At any rate, A Rage In Harlem is one hell of ride from start to finish and is definitely worth being in your collection. Two thumbs up.

Also recommended movies by director Bill Duke: Hoodlum, Sister Act 2 Deep Cover.

Fantastic period piece

[papanob · 10/10 · 28 January 2012]

I am totally surprised at the low rating of this film.I read numerous critic reviews to find that it was well received.I have a fondness for offbeat films and find myself at odds with critical reviews most of the time but in this case we choose to agree.I signed up to counter the one star rating left by the person who was afraid of what his girlfriend would think of him for taking her on a date to see this movie.(jeez)About the film...I was lucky enough to stumble across a print a while back,I was always a fan of "Cotten come to Harlem "and found this film much more enjoyable due to it's superb direction,well made sets and an excellent cast.The movie starts with a bang and never lets up.At times you will cringe and laugh at the same time,you get to see a famous blues player perform in a nightclub(EXCELLENT)and of course the best shot of Robin Given's butt ever committed to film.I loved it!!!!

This Movie is So Underrated

[tmclash · 10/10 · 4 September 2020]

I'm not sure why this movie isn't as popular as it is funny. Is it because everyone was/is hating on Robin Givens? It has wonderful actors/actress, interesting plot and just plain funny. It's a comedy, drama and a love story that wins in the end. It might make you even not hate Mister (Danny Glover) as much as it was filmed not long after The Color Purple. Judge for yourself, you know most white critic's don't like it. That's because they don't understand black folks. We are so different, including our humor. Check it out.

Film noir, blaxploitation style.

[mark.waltz · 9/10 · 6 February 2024]

Pearl's hangin' out of the window again, or the lookalike character of Mrs. Canfield, played by "227's" Helen Martin. She's seen observing the presence of the gorgeous and sultry Robin Givens, the ultimate noir femme fatale. The poor sap she gets her claws into is shy, virginal Forest Whittaker who doesn't remain a virgin for long after meeting her. He works as an undertaker in Harlem, and Givens is new in town from Mississippi, having arrived in New York City with a ton of gold stolen from her boyfriend (Badja Djola) during a very violent shootout.

The racial slur filled exchange between whites and blacks has a very disturbing scene involving a white man's facial mole, and threats towards the sweet Whittaker are equally as vile. Obviously Givens is using Whittaker, but he's so endearing that she can't help but come to like him and want to protect him.

A fantastic, nostalgic look at Harlem and black culture in the mid 50's that features the fabulous Bea Winde as the lesbian proprietor of a brothel and Gregory Hines as Whittaker's con-artist brother. Adding to the intrigue is Danny Glover who took on a smaller part as a Harlem fence. Zakes Mokae is also fascinating as a character named Big Kathy.

Givens shines as her character's vulnerability is revealed and Whittaker shows that underneath his character's presumed weakness is a real lion. A nightclub sequence has the most unforgettable giant mask since Oz's wizard. Certainly a lot to take in plot wise, but once you get an idea of who is who, it's fascinating and sensationally directed by Bill Duke.

Hell is low, brotherman

[TheOldGuyFromHalloween3 · 10/10 · 28 June 2021]

Great movie and period recreation. Robin Givens was hot as hell and the whole cast is great in this fun movie. Better than Harlem Nights.

All star cast just a great movie

[sheilacrowesc · 10/10 · 20 June 2021]

I've been want to know probably two hundred times I know all the dialogue I love the storyboards in the beginning just a great all-around movie not one white person in it except for the law lol.

Great cast

[mylancer03 · 8/10 · 19 January 2021]

People who have not lived the black experience have no idea what they are experiencing in this movie. The characters are true to form from my black experience growing up in the 50's

Worth to watch

[alfoudarimusaed · 8/10 · 5 March 2022]

It no Godfather but It's very entertaining. The cast has nice dynamic and they all fit their parts. The astomsphere is amazing.

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