(1993)

Submitted by Julio M

Short pooper:
Caine (Tyrin Turner) and Sharif (Vonte Butler) are attacked in a drive-by shootout and killed. Caine dies recalling when his grandfather (Arnold Johnson) asked him “whether he cared about living or dying”.


Longer version:
Caine’s rejection of Ilena (Erin LeShawn Wiley) and her pregnancy -which, she swears, came from having solely been with him- creates complications for his intentions to follow Pernell’s (Glenn Plummer) advice to leave the hood behind and move to Atlanta with Ronnie (Jada Pinkett) and little Anthony (Julian Roy Doster). Returning home, Ilena’s gangbanger cousin approaches him to confront him about the pregnancy, thus setting off an argument that Caine ends by violently stomping the guy. When Grandpa witnesses this, he stops Caine, forces him back in the house and, having had enough of his ways, angrily announces that both himself and Grandma (Marilyn Coleman) are thereby disowning him. Moreover, the incident has now put a target on his head both by Ilena’s cousin’s gang, and by the Police -this due to Chauncey (Clifton Powell) betraying him by sending the surveillance tape, from the original robbery/killing in the beginning of the film, to the authorities-.

This forces Caine and his friend -and perpetrator of said earlier incident-, O-Dog (Larenz Tate), to go into hiding with Ronnie and some other friends. While O-Dog prepares to exact revenge on Chauncey -his actual fate left unknown and presumably being able to get away unharmed and without punishment for his crimes-, Caine furthers his plans to relocate to Atlanta, unaware that the rival gang is coming over for retribution.

As they all actually get ready to leave, with Sharif and O-Dog also being there at the moment, a drive-by shootout ensues. Caine quickly moves to successfully shield Anthony from the bullets, but he himself is mortally wounded, while Sharif is killed on the spot and Anthony is safe. Stacy (Ryan Williams) and Ronnie rush out as the gang speeds away to tend to them both and call for help. Caine lays dying and, with his entire life flashing in front of him, his last thought is of Grandpa questioning him on whether he cared at all about either living or dying; it is, unfortunately, at that very moment, he realizes, too late, that he did care about living, as the movie ends.

01 hours 37 minutes