Socrates Fortlow (Laurence Fishburne) is an ex-con living in Los Angeles getting by by collecting aluminum cans. He opted for Los Angeles as a place to live because there he could meld into the society and not be noticed. He's willing to do any legit job, no matter how lowly or demeaning, to earn an honest living. Penitentiary life hasn't corrupted him to the point of making him a recidivist, but it clearly put a hard edge on him. He hardly talks without an intimidating tone, even when attempting to get a job.
"Always Outnumbered" is a rather slow tale about life in the hood for older folks. Socrates is at the center, but he has associates in Right Burke (Bill Cobbs) and Howard (Bill Nunn). It's about the difficulties of life in general while being poor and Black, and particularly a poor, Black, ex-con. The movie was written by Walter Mosely who is probably best known for writing "Devil in a Blue Dress." What he explored wasn't much different than other movies about urban life. I think "Always Outnumbered" would've benefited greatly from somehow being more different than its predecessors.
"Always Outnumbered" is a rather slow tale about life in the hood for older folks. Socrates is at the center, but he has associates in Right Burke (Bill Cobbs) and Howard (Bill Nunn). It's about the difficulties of life in general while being poor and Black, and particularly a poor, Black, ex-con. The movie was written by Walter Mosely who is probably best known for writing "Devil in a Blue Dress." What he explored wasn't much different than other movies about urban life. I think "Always Outnumbered" would've benefited greatly from somehow being more different than its predecessors.