New Jersey Drive

New Jersey Drive
Theatrical Release Poster
Directed by	Nick Gomez
Produced by	Larry Meistrich Spike Lee
Written by	Nick Gomez Michel Marriott
Starring	Sharron Corley Gabriel Casseus Saul Stein
Cinematography	Adam Kimmel
Editing by	Tracy Granger
Studio	40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks
Distributed by	Gramercy Pictures
Release date(s)	19 April 1995
Running time	98 min.
Language	English
Budget	$5,000,000

New Jersey Drive is a 1995 film about black youths in Newark, New Jersey, the official "car theft capital of the world". Their favorite pastime is that of everybody in their neighborhood: stealing cars and joyriding. The trouble starts when they steal a police car and the cops launch a violent offensive that involves beating and even shooting suspects. The film stars Sharron Corley, Gabriel Casseus, and Saul Stein. At the time, the city of Newark had the highest automobile theft rate in the country, and Newark mayor Sharpe James refused to allow filming of New Jersey Drive within the city limits; therefore, the filming locations were in the surrounding locations of Newark rather than Newark itself.

Plot

New Jersey Drive opens with Jason (Sharron Corley) heading off to juvenile detention then unfolds in flashback as, chronologically, the incidents leading to his arrest surface one by one. First the audience sees the violent and poverty-ridden project where he chooses to hang out at; next his go-nowhere delinquent friends are introduced, as is their hobby: joy riding. Soon some of the teens, including Jason, begin to convert their hobby into a part-time job as they steal cars and sell them to a sleazy chop-shop owner for pennies on the dollar. Eventually they are caught in a police sting and one boy, Ronnie Lambs (Ron Q), is shot by the crooked Officer Emil Roscoe (Saul Stein) and other police officers. They begin to run for cover and they end up at Ronnie's house whose relatives take him to the hospital. Jason informs his friends that the police ambushed them but he refuses to come forward and report the crime. One night while walking home, Jason is pulled over by the police. While he is being held in the back of a police car, he is approached by Officer Roscoe. Roscoe warns Jason not to tell a soul and he punches Jason in the eye as a warning to stay away from grand juries. Jason's mother tries to steer him away from a life of crime but he continues to hang out with his friends from the neighborhood who are involved in the street life. After becoming fed up with his mother and her boyfriend's home rules, Jason leaves their house and moves into Midget's apartment in the projects.

One day, Jason and his friends are relaxing on the strip and a car drives past. Jason's sister, Jackie, and a friend of hers are in the back seat of a stolen vehicle. Jason pulls her out of the vehicle and sends her home. Officer Roscoe drives down the street, greets the guys and calls for backup. Midget says a few words and then throws a 40-ounce bottle at the windshield of Officer Roscoe's vehicle. As the boys run their separate ways, Jason and Midget are approached by two cops one being a female police officer. She questions them since they are minors drinking alcohol and fit the description of the suspects they were looking for. Midget insults the female officer for calling for backup while Jason pours out the liquor bottle. She rips the bag Midget was carrying and the boys take off running with police in pursuit. The police lose Jason but catch up to Midget. They corner him near the back of an apartment building and they beat him senseless whilst taking turns. Some time later, Midget awakens from the beating, grabs his 40-ounce of malt liquor and Jason catches up with him. Midget gets hold a gun and he points it a police squad car from the roof top of a housing project building. Midget immediately fires two shots and the crew flee the scene. Later that day, after visiting a crooked chop shop owner, Midget robs a man for his Lexus in a grocery store parking lot. Jason who is in the previous vehicle was unaware of Midget's actions and the both of them speed away in their separate vehicles. Jason later confronts Midget for not telling him about his actions while Midget is seen feeding his elderly grandmother.

Meanwhile, Roscoe is looking at a video camera which caught Jason at the scene of the robbery at the grocery store which now makes him a suspect. Next, Jackie is seen hanging out in the parking lot in the housing projects with a crowd of Jason's peers who are car thieves. Jason confronts Jackie once again and Richie tries to intervene. Jason tells Richie to stay out of it but a friend of Richie's instigates the argument to a point where Richie hits Jason in the face. Jason responds by beating Richie up in front of everybody until a group of guys (including Midget) break up the fight. After that, the police go to Jason's mother's home in search of him but she informs the police that he is not home. Jason's mother drives around in search of Jason and then she tells Jason (once she sees him) that the police are on the hunt for him. Jason and Midget return to Midget's home only to find the police are waiting in the hallway. Jason runs while Midget stays put. As Jason is walking down the street, Richie pulls up in a vehicle. As he calls for Jason, Jason ignores him. Richie pulls out a gun and chases after Jason. Jason was able to get away unharmed. Later he is taunted by his friends for almost getting murdered on the street by Richie. Jason repels his friends of their ignorance which could have been resulted in his death by the hands of Richie. The crew drive around the city until night time.

As they ponder upon a red SUV, the two guys Jason was with try to steal the vehicle while Jason watches. It appears that their carjacking attempt is taking too long as the car alarm goes off. Suddenly, the car alarm goes off by a beep and the police surround the carjackers. Jason is arrested, Midget successfully gets away and the other teen car-jacker tries to drive away in reverse from the police who fatally shoot him, later describing the shooting as self-defence by claiming that the carjacker tried to overrun a policeman. Jason has realized that his luck has finally ran out as he and his friends are caught on video tape committing the crime. The neighborhood residents are later seen outraged and protesting the police for shooting a teenage carjacker as the emergency medics try to revive him. The scene returns to the present as Jason is currently doing time at a juvenile hall. While washing clothes, he gets into an argument with another inmate who has a vendetta against his friend Midget. As Jason is sitting watching the news, it is revealed that the officers involved in the shooting of Ronnie Lambs have been suspended from active duty and Officer Roscoe has been brought up on criminal charges.

Jason is released from jail and receives a ride by his female friend. She takes him to his old stumping grounds which is Avon St. and he sees Midget with his friends. Apparently, Midget (nor any other of his friends) came to visit Jason while he was in jail. Midget and Jason have a long talk and it appears that the neighborhood is changing for the worse and that Midget suggests that Jason figure out what he wants to do with his life. Later that evening, Jason and his female friend begin to have a talk while sitting in her mother's car and then suddenly they are carjacked at gun-point by the men who had an argument with Jason when he was incarcerated. Midget and his crew arrive on the scene to try to figure out what happened but Jason has grown tired of the street life. Midget and Jason get into an argument and Midget informs Jason that this is how life on the streets is. Later on, a police dispatcher performs a voiceover during events in which it is revealed that Midget and a few friends who were joyriding in a stolen van die in an accident during a police chase. The next scene shows Jason walking down the street with a bookbag on his way to school while a group of kids drive past him joyriding. The final scene features Jason sitting in a classroom earning his education and reflecting on the past.

Cast

• Sharron Corley as Jason Petty
• Gabriel Casseus as Midget
• Saul Stein as Emil Roscoe
• Donald Faison as Tiny
• Heavy D as Bo-Kane
• Roscoe Orman as Judge
• Christine Baranski as Prosecutor

Soundtrack

Year	Album	Peak chart positions		Certifications
		U.S.	U.S. R&B
1995	New Jersey Drive, Vol. 1 Released: March 28, 1995 Label: Tommy Boy	22	3	US: Gold
1995	New Jersey Drive, Vol. 2 Released: April 11, 1995 Label: Tommy Boy	58	9

External links

• New Jersey Drive at the Internet Movie Database