New Jersey Drive

R

1995

1 hr. 35 min.

Crime

Drama

List

64%

14 Reviews

Tomatometer

84%

2,500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Jason (Sharron Corley) is an impoverished youth growing up in the slums of New Jersey. He and his pal Midget (Gabriel Casseus) get their thrills by stealing cars and taking them for joyrides. Eventually, the boys grow more serious about auto theft when they realize they can earn cash by passing off the lifted cars to black-market dealers -- which proves to be a risky way to make a living. Soon Jason finds himself on the wrong side of the law, and makes a dangerous enemy in his neighborhood.

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Paul A

this is a certified hood classic

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/16/24

Full Review

StephenPaul C

The greatest 01 hour: and 35 minutes of criminal activity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ages 17 and older!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

a large cast of unknowns but shows a side of New Jersey that can get hit hard the most when it comes to being black Jason and his pal, Midget take cars out for joy rides in the slums of his neighborhood an opportunity presents itself when they find out they can sell lifted automobiles for cash of course somewhere down the line he gets in way too deep there's only so much of the thrill of joyriding and boosting that it gets out of control if getting arrested multiple times or even getting shot isn't enough of a wake up call it's having the world go silent once you lose a partner in crime it takes nearly Jason the whole film to see why this life isn't for him; his mother on repeated attempts tries to get him to see the bigger picture one police officer in particular has it out for him no matter how many times he gets away with it I'll be frank the narrative here isn't traditionally streamlined, the editing is bizarre since there's so many fade-outs and fade-ins without letting certain scenes play out as they should, it's also just moving from one thing to the next without letting us absorb the emotional moments but I do respect them for making this part of the New Jersey neighborhood being seen since a majority never full understand its interworkings nobody wants this kind of lifestyle forever, some of us want to enjoy the ride but also slow down, for certain places like this in the US it's open season on anyone who isn't white the movie is pretty unbalanced but it has good intentions regardless

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

jon c

a large cast of unknowns but shows a side of New Jersey that can get hit hard the most when it comes to being black Jason and his pal, Midget take cars out for joy rides in the slums of his neighborhood an opportunity presents itself when they find out they can sell lifted automobiles for cash of course somewhere down the line he gets in way too deep there's only so much of the thrill of joyriding and boosting that it gets out of control if getting arrested multiple times or even getting shot isn't enough of a wake up call it's having the world go silent once you lose a partner in crime it takes nearly Jason the whole film to see why this life isn't for him; his mother on repeated attempts tries to get him to see the bigger picture one police officer in particular has it out for him no matter how many times he gets away with it I'll be frank the narrative here isn't traditionally streamlined, the editing is bizarre since there's so many fade-outs and fade-ins without letting certain scenes play out as they should, it's also just moving from one thing to the next without letting us absorb the emotional moments but I do respect them for making this part of the New Jersey neighborhood being seen since a majority never full understand its interworkings nobody wants this kind of lifestyle forever, some of us want to enjoy the ride but also slow down, for certain places like this in the US it's open season on anyone who isn't white so the movie is pretty unbalanced but it has good intentions regardless

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

There isn't a more realistic movie out there. You would think these are street kids thrown in front of a camera but no, these are legit actors acting. Fantastic film! Lee and Gomez joined together and created an underrated masterpiece.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Stunning, fierce, intimidating, and yet grounded in reality - follows inner city school-aged kids and the imminent dangers vying for their lives. An almost horror movie of rebellious, angry youths stealing cars and causing mayhem - poor choices and their horrific consequences. Pervasive Language throughout and people getting shot as you watch. It plagued me for days after seeing it originally.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

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Nick Gomez

Director

Sharron Corley

Jason Petty

Gabriel Casseus

Midget

Saul Stein

Roscoe

Gwen McGee

Rene Petty

Andre Moore

Ritchie

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Gene Siskel

Chicago Tribune

A thoughtful, dense and ultimately sad mosaic of street life.

Rated: 3/4

Aug 16, 2017

Full Review

Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: A-

Sep 7, 2011

Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

The movie is expert on how cars are stolen (it takes about 10 seconds). It is also expert on how a smart and essentially prudent kid ends up inside a lot of stolen cars and gets into a lot of trouble.

Rated: 3/4

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Sheila Reid

Women in the Life

A startling look at a black gang in Newark.

May 13, 2022

Full Review

Brandon Collins

Medium Popcorn

I couldn't connect with this. I have seen better films that depicted life in the struggle like this...

Rated: 1/5

Feb 18, 2021

Full Review

Justin Brown

Medium Popcorn

I was expecting this film to be very bad but was pleasantly surprised. This is the low level version of what was happening in NYC in the 90s.

Rated: 3/5

Feb 18, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

Jason (Sharron Corley) is an impoverished youth growing up in the slums of New Jersey. He and his pal Midget (Gabriel Casseus) get their thrills by stealing cars and taking them for joyrides. Eventually, the boys grow more serious about auto theft when they realize they can earn cash by passing off the lifted cars to black-market dealers -- which proves to be a risky way to make a living. Soon Jason finds himself on the wrong side of the law, and makes a dangerous enemy in his neighborhood.

Director: Nick Gomez
Executive Producer: Spike Lee
Screenwriter: Nick Gomez
Production Co: 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks
Rating: R
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 10, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.9M
Sound Mix: Stereo, Surround

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