Poetic Justice(1993)

Oscar Nominee – Best Original Song, “Again”
Short pooper:
Lucky (Tupac Shakur), ashamed of how he treated Justice (Janet Jackson) at the end of the road trip, reconnects with her at the hair salon where she works and they kiss, seemingly having reconciled.

Longer version:
When Iesha (Regina King) and Chicago’s (Joe Torry) personal issues escalate into an openly physical confrontation, Justice intervenes in favour of her friend and kicks him in the groin, to which Chicago responds by coming after Justice. Lucky, who had tried to remain aloof from the whole thing, both because of his own goal of reaching to his cousin in Oakland and out of his friendship with Chicago, is enraged by this and jumps and beats Chicago for being a “woman-beating punk”. He, Iesha and Justice resume their journey and leave Chicago by the side of the road.

Shortly before their arrival in Oakland, they briefly stop at a beach. Lucky walks off to the coastline and Justice comes behind, wondering what is going on. They both open to each other; him, about his daughter Keisha (Shannon Johnson) and his hopes and dreams of making it big in the music business with his cousin; and her, about her personal tragedies, including the earlier killing of her boyfriend Markell (Q-Tip). They end up sharing a passionate kiss, which makes Justice recoil, feeling unsure of what she thinks of Lucky. However, she gives in and they kiss a second time.

Unfortunately, their newfound connection appears to be short-lived when, upon arriving in Oakland, Lucky finds out his cousin has been killed. Angry and saddened over this, he feels guilty for not having been there in time to prevent it and lashes out at Justice for distracting him, to which she reacts defensively, thus both parting ways. Justice, along with Iesha, then meets her friend and hair salon boss, Jesse (Tyra Ferrell), for the hair show, and she gives them both advice regarding men.

Lucky obtains from his uncle and aunt the recording equipment he shared with his cousin and breaks down crying when reminiscing about him. He then decides to quit his postal job and focus solely on raising and taking care of little Keisha.

Some time passes. Justice is back working as usual at the hair salon, with the same comic gossip situations happening every day -including regular patron Simone (Khandi Alexander) always on the brink of getting into a fight with another younger woman who appears to be after her husband-. One day, Lucky returns to the salon, bringing Keisha, which surprises Justice. He shows regret over the cruel things he said to Justice, back in Oakland, apologizes to her, which makes her smile and they share a kiss; he then formally introduces Keisha to Justice, which rejoices her, especially when they start talking about the little girl’s hair.

The movie ends with Lucky, while he sits and watches from a distance, and Justice, looking lovingly at each other, clearly showing they are ready for a second chance.