Caught Up

All ex-convict Daryl Allen (Bokeem Woodbine) wants is to straighten out his life. Fate, however, isn't cooperating. Fresh out of jail, he beds a tarot-card-reading temptress (Cynda Williams) who nabs him a job as a driver at a shady limo service. Soon it's clear that this mystical babe's dealt Daryl quite a hand, as he dodges bullets and ducks a sadistic Rastafarian (Basil Wallace) with a really bad accent, mun.

In his directorial debut, writer/producer Darin Scott (Tales from the Hood) takes his cues from '70s blaxploitation flicks. With its broad parade of freaky white guys and 'hood-hardened black dudes, this comedy/thriller isn't afraid to poke satirical jabs at urban life; more important, it isn't afraid to uphold the benevolent over the bad-ass. Daryl, played with a winning mix of incredulity and spunk by Woodbine, steps out as the parable's archetypal hero, a victim of circumstance in a society salivating to slap a pair of cuffs on him. Genuinely funny at times, the film does get snagged on its attempts to ply an overly twisty plot. The fallout is messy, and though cameos by Snoop Doggy Dogg and L.L. Cool J add a dollop of hipness, Caught Up never quite catches up.

-- Alicia Potter