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Wood Harris, Mekhi Phifer, Kevin Carroll, Esai Morales, Chi McBride ... see more see more... , Cam'ron , Remo Green , Cynthia Martells , Elise Neal , Regina Hall , Angie Martinez , Hakan Coskuner , Jonas Chernick , Remo Greene , Joyce Walker

Paid in Full marks the feature debut of director Charles Stone III, who rose to fame after creating Budweiser's "Wassup" commercials. The urban gangster drama is loosely based on the true story of 198... read more read more...0s Harlem drug kingpins AZ, Rich Porter, and Alpo. (This story was also the basis for a documentary, Game Over (Part 1).) Ace (Wood Harris) works at a laundromat, struggling to get by, while his friend Mitch (Mekhi Phifer) lives the high life selling heroin. His sister's boyfriend, Calvin (Kevin Carroll) also sells drugs, and looks down on Ace for struggling to earn a living. Out delivering laundry one day, Ace meets Lulu (Esai Morales), a big time coke dealer, who lives better than anyone Ace has ever known. When Lulu leaves some coke in the pocket of a coat he's having cleaned, Ace returns it to him, and Lulu rewards him for his honesty by letting him keep the drugs. When Calvin gets busted, Ace hesitantly takes his place in the neighborhood, and starts working for Lulu. As the crack business takes off, Ace finds himself making more money than he knows what to do with. Mitch goes to jail for a short time, where another inmate, Rico (rapper Cam'ron in his acting debut), defends him in a fight. By the time Mitch gets out of prison, Ace is running the neighborhood. Ace makes Mitch his right-hand man, and when Rico gets out of jail, he joins the crew. The drugs and money flow, and Ace tries to keep everyone happy, but there are some who want what's his, and will stop at nothing to get it. Paid in Full was shown at the 2002 Urbanworld Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Flixster Users

94% liked it

18,449 ratings

Critics

51% liked it

41 critics

R, 1 hr. 37 min.

Directed by: Charles Stone III

Release Date: October 25, 2002

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DVD Release Date: April 8, 2003

Stats: 1,315 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,315)

  • fb704730572
    July 10, 2011
    fb704730572
    Paid in Full has a gritty realistic quality that is excellent in its' world building. It's well acted by largely unknowns, and succeeds in painting a real picture of Harlem without making it glamorous. The pacing, however is uneven, with the film seemingly dragging at points. Mor... read moree time should also have been devoted to fleshing out some of the characters. Still, its realism reminded me of The Wire, the greatest crime show ever.
  • pooooop4
    December 28, 2011
    pooooop4
    I thought this movie was fantastic. Wood Harris is a great actor and can be a fantastic one if he is supported with a good plot and good actors around him and thats what they did in this movie.
  • fb16709066
    November 30, 2011
    fb16709066
    Paid in Full was very poorly executed. The movie takes the standard formula of a gangster drama, throws some rappers and bases it on a true story and packages it all together. At only 1 hour and 37 minutes the movie drags on quite slowly and Mekhi Phifer still manages to keep get... read moreting roles. See Clockers for a slightly better version of this film.
  • brandankurtis
    January 13, 2011
    brandankurtis
    I saw this one a while back in the end of 2001, and I was very interested as it was the true story of the drug game in the mid eighties. This movie is actually AZ's side of the story(AZ is Ace played by Wood Harris[Above The Rim, Remember The Titans, The wire]). well, it tells th... read moree story of drug kingpins AZ(Ace), Rich Porter(Mitch)and Alberto "Alpo" Martinez(Rico). Cam'ron really displays some actin' skills in his part as the trigger-happy, O-Dog reminiscent Rico("alpo"), Wood Harris gives a very different performance from his previous roles in Above The Rim and The Wire as the laid back Ace. but this one belonged to Mekhi Phifer(8-Mile, Clockers) as Mitch(Rich Porter) he really came out and busted out Rich to a "T"! the certain flare that was necessary was there... And havin' DJ Brucie B all in the movie really put the icing on the cake for a rugged street feel, VERY Authentic...

    underrated movie - this needs to be seen.
  • lnse
    December 9, 2008
    lnse
    This is one of my guys favorite movies, so I owed it to him to watch it. I actually have to say it was pretty decent & there were some parts where I wished I had money like that to just go out & spend, but like one of the girls in the movis stated sarcasticly after her guy gave h... read moreer a stack, "what am I supposed to do with this? Go shopping?"

    Thought it had a good storyline & of course some good eye candy. Phifer was good as one of the leads alont with Harris, who totally changed his role from the beginning to the end of the movie.

    Does have a few emotional scenes, but guess that is expected coming from a hood movie about notorious drug dealers. The movie basically shows you the life of three drug dealers & the risks, the highs, the lows & how it can all turn on you in a matter of seconds.
  • ghettoqueen747
    November 12, 2008
    ghettoqueen747
    story was too predictable I am sick of these gangsta movies being written by people who have no idea what it is like to be in the hood. It sucked and i did not like any of the cast memebers in it!!
  • curvesgoddess
    September 13, 2007
    curvesgoddess
    OK so this movie REALLY pissed me off BUT I loved it! I truly shows how it is out here on the streets. It sadly shows how grimmey friends/people can be. Where ultimately everyone looks out for Number#1 no matter what. And it shows how true it is that you can't trust anyone when... read more it comes to issues of drugs and money. Made me sad & angry to see the betrayals to be had between "friends"
  • GetLikeMe2007
    July 21, 2007
    GetLikeMe2007
    this is a street, gangsta movie if you're into then you'll love this and understand tha street life of a hustla!
  • jeckone2001
    July 21, 2007
    jeckone2001
    this happens to be like a cult favorite of mine, simply because the actors portrayed real life characters in this movie...we (the real life characters) lived and ran in the same community -Harlem, i was a kid watching them in our community and even with them being drug dealers o... read morer hustlers, i looked up to them, not only because they represented Harlem to the fullest, but also because they didn't look down on me, when i would run into them on the street, they would give and show respect to me and others around them, unlike uniform cops, or detectives in the hood, but back to the film, even though it's a lot of things that were missed in the movie about their reign in Harlem, its a fair amount of facts about what went on between them, the three of them influenced a lot in Harlem, they gave a lot of direction to many, whether it'll be good or bad...
  • nekes21
    July 3, 2007
    nekes21
    For some reason i've seen this movie like 50 times, and I love it. I'm intrigued by gritty tru stories I guess.

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Critic Reviews

Richard Roeper
October 29, 2002
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper

I'm going to give it a marginal thumbs up. I liked it just enough. Full Review

Carla Meyer
October 25, 2002
Carla Meyer, San Francisco Chronicle

Needed a little less bling-bling and a lot more romance. Full Review

Megan Turner
October 25, 2002
Megan Turner, New York Post

Rings true, from the smooth dialogue to the unaffected performances of the central actors.

Owen Gleiberman
October 25, 2002
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

A fake street drama that keeps telling you things instead of showing them. Full Review

Frank Scheck
October 25, 2002
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

It does offer an uncommon thoughtfulness that makes it far less exploitative or sensationalistic than most examples of its genre.

Roger Ebert
October 25, 2002
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The movie is ambitious, has good energy and is well-acted, but tells a familiar story in a familiar way. Full Review

Ty Burr
October 25, 2002
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

In this bird's-eye-view of the drug trade circa 1986, there's something missing: the buyers. Full Review

Stephen Holden
October 24, 2002
Stephen Holden, New York Times

Instead of a hyperbolic beat-charged urban western, it's an unpretentious, sociologically pointed slice of life. Full Review

Tom Sime
October 24, 2002
Tom Sime, Dallas Morning News

Performances are strong, especially that of Mr. Wood. Full Review

Jay Boyar
October 24, 2002
Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel

It's actually too sincere -- the crime movie equivalent of a chick flick.

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  • For the movie The Pursuit of Happyness, the homeless people who worked as extras were paid a full day's minimum wage (which is $8.62/hr in SF) and given free catered meals as compensation for appearing in the film. For some it was the first money they'd made in a while.   Answer »
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