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Belly

Belly is fat. Not phat, as in funky, fresh, and cool, but fat as in a waste of time. First-time feature director Hype Williams, famous for his moody videos for Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac, has created a film with a tenuous storyline, almost no character development, and bad acting. It could have been saved by a pounding soundtrack and plenty of gratuitous violence -- but though the film has some of today's best rappers, it doesn't have nearly enough music by them. And though the violence is frequent, it never seems very real. Williams would benefit from checking out Sam Peckinpah or at least the Hughes Brothers.

Tommy (DMX) is a bad-ass hustler from Queens looking for dosh. He and his sensitive partner Sincere (Nas), who finds Islam but has a hard time losing his drug-dealing lifestyle, set up an interstate heroin ring. The feds bust in and then the fun begins. Problem is the plot and pacing feel as if they'd been worked out by someone who was blunted. The rich background colors and weird camera angles are appealing, but only Orson Welles can carry a film with camera angles.

-- Nicholas Patterson