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Movies / Upcoming / Never Die Alone
Never Die Alone

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Never Die Alone (2004)

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26 %
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Reviews Counted:88

Fresh:23

Rotten:65

Average Rating:4.1/10

Consensus: DMX's menacing charisma is put to good use in this stylish but hackneyed modern-day noir.

Runtime: 89 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

US Box Office: $5,531,230

Synopsis: Based on cult novelist Donald Goines’ novel of the same name, NEVER DIE ALONE is a richly literate film noir about King David (DMX), a hard-boiled, stylish criminal who returns to his hometown... Based on cult novelist Donald Goines’ novel of the same name, NEVER DIE ALONE is a richly literate film noir about King David (DMX), a hard-boiled, stylish criminal who returns to his hometown seeking redemption but finding only violent death. But he did not die alone...King David’s final moments are spent with Paul (David Arquette) an aspiring journalist who knew him just a few minutes but upon whose life he would forever have an impact. King David – half preacher, half Satan, and all street smarts – had recorded the story of his recent exploits on audiotape, leaving behind an often-poetic sermon on villainy and its consequences. The tapes reveal that the cycle of violence and retribution his actions have spawned has come back on him full circle, as he suspected it might all along... One of the most prolific and widely read black authors of his generation, Donald Goines wrote his first two books while incarcerated, and followed those with an astonishing 16 novels written from the time he was released from prison in 1970 until he was shot to death in 1974. The film is directed by Ernest Dickerson whose directorial debut was the 1992 drama JUICE, starring Omar Epps and the late Tupac Shakur. Previously Dickerson served as Director of Photography on seven of Spike Lee’s early films up to and including MALCOLM X. He has directed a number of feature and made-for-TV films from the recent horror movie BONES starring Snoop Dogg to the Peabody Award-winning Showtime movie "Strange Justice," based on the controversy surrounding Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas. Dickerson most recently directed the drama GOOD FENCES, starring Danny Glover and Whoopi Goldberg, which had its world premiere at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. DMX is a top rap artist who has also found great success in the film business. He starred opposite Jet Li in CRADLE 2 THE GRAVE and also appeared in BELLY, ROMEO MUST DIE and EXIT WOUNDS, for which he received a Blockbuster Breakthrough Actor nomination. His first four albums debuted at number one and sold well over 22 million records in just four years. David Arquette starred in the box office smash hits SCREAM 1, 2 and 3, which won him the Blockbuster Favorite Actor Award in 1998. For his leading role in NEVER BEEN KISSED, he was awarded the 2000 Blockbuster Award for Favorite Supporting Actor. He recently drew acclaim for his portrayal of an inmate at Auschwitz II-Birkenau in Tim Blake Nelson’s drama THE GREY ZONE. -- © Fox Searchlight [More]

Starring: DMX, David Arquette, Michael Ealy, Reagan Preston-Gomez

Starring: DMX, David Arquette, Michael Ealy, Reagan Preston-Gomez, Clifton Powell

Director: Ernest R. Dickerson

Director: Ernest R. Dickerson
Screenwriter: James Gibson
Producer: Earl Simmons, Alessandro Camon
Composer: George Duke
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures

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Reviews for Never Die Alone

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21 - 40 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
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A misogynistic, dull-witted bore.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
03/28/04
Marc Savlov
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
03/27/04
Los Angeles Daily News

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
03/27/04
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News

David's remorse barely registers against the movie's basking in criminal excess. And with the exception of character actor Tiny Lister, the cast tries way too hard to be tough.

Full Review Source: Boston Herald | comment Comment
03/27/04
Paul Sherman
Paul Sherman
Boston Herald

The only thing that could improve Never Die Alone is a caring projectionist, a lighter, and a trashcan.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
03/26/04
Pete Croatto
Pete Croatto
Filmcritic.com

Fans of Goines will want to see this, because this is the first of his works to make it to the silver screen. Other than that, there’s no reason to see it.

Full Review Source: Greenwich Village Gazette | comment Comment
03/26/04
Eric Lurio
Eric Lurio
Greenwich Village Gazette

A bumbling adaptation.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
03/26/04
Richard Harrington
Richard Harrington
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

What makes Never Die Alone so monumentally terrible isn't just its bearhugging of gangsta flick convention, but its desperate attempt to imbue run-of-the-mill crime with noir classicism.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
03/26/04
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Although the flashbacks within flashbacks within some more flashbacks structure is overly convoluted, Dickerson's visual flair and Stephen Lovejoy's crisp editing actually make the story easy to follow, if not to believe.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
03/26/04
Angel Cohn
Angel Cohn
TV Guide's Movie Guide

The various stories are strong enough to compensate for any acting deficiencies.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
03/26/04
Peter Howell
Peter Howell
Toronto Star

If not for the excessive melodrama, lousy dialogue, clumsy acting and generally nasty vibe, "Never Die Alone" could have had the kind of distinctive edge that made urban street dramas like Juice, Menace II Society...

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
03/26/04
Ted Fry
Ted Fry
Seattle Times

DMX has all the charisma you'd expect of a music star, and he uses it to portray King David as larger than life.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
03/26/04
Ruthe Stein
Ruthe Stein
San Francisco Chronicle

Never Die Alone makes each viewer die alone, but shared laughter with other customers may forge a death-pact bond.

Full Review Source: San Diego Union-Tribune | comment Comment
03/26/04
David Elliott
David Elliott
San Diego Union-Tribune

Never Die Alone has the allure of a bad traffic accident. You don't want to look at it, but for some reason you can't avert your eyes.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
03/26/04
Joe Baltake
Joe Baltake
Sacramento Bee

Scott Fitzgerald might get a laugh from Never Die Alone.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Daily News | comment Comment
03/26/04
Gary Thompson
Gary Thompson
Philadelphia Daily News

Has a story so silly, so pretentious, that only a narcissistic rapper with a hardcore thug pose would have the chutzpah to star in and narrate such garbage.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
03/26/04
Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel

In the hands of a more nuanced actor, David could have been a riveting character; but DMX's limited range means it's never clear why such a remorseless thug was seeking 'redemption' in the first place.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
03/26/04
M.E. Russell
M.E. Russell
Oregonian

A violent, would-be film noir that strains with limited success for tragic resonance and gritty authenticity.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
03/26/04
Jonathan Foreman
Jonathan Foreman
New York Post

Never Die Alone is the first of Goines' ultragritty novels has made it to the big screen. If this is the best his words can inspire, it should also be the last.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
03/26/04
Elizabeth Weitzman
Elizabeth Weitzman
New York Daily News

Instead of insight or character or milieu or anything else remotely worth exploring, we get bad attitude, lousy storytelling and abysmal performances.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
03/26/04
Bruce Kirkland
Bruce Kirkland
Jam! Movies
 
 
21 - 40 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
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