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Certain movies just aren't destined to become critical favorites or financial successes. 1998's "Belly" - music video director Hype Williams' first feature film - is one of those pictures. It is a film that is many different things to many different people. Due to its largely African-American, rap-centric cast and soundtrack, some have labeled it an urban drama, some have called it an urban action picture, and others have just called it an "urban" film.

But there is one thing the above descriptions have in common with each other; the word "urban" can be found in all of them. Quite true that the cast is comprised of either rap or R&B musicians and that its soundtrack is culled straight from the East Coast rap scene circa 1998, but the film is so much more than a "Boyz N the Hood" or "Menace II Society" retread. Because "Belly’s" subject matter is firmly rooted in the “New Jack City”-styled guns and drugs motif of many early-90s African-American “hood” flicks, it will probably still get overlooked long after this review is written.

Truth be told, "Belly" is NOT a "hood" drama. In fact, it has more in common with Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, and Francis Ford Coppola gangster pictures than it does movies by John Singleton, The Hughes Brothers or other likeminded directors. There are many well-worn, albeit beautiful themes that lie beneath the crust of this picture. If you, the viewer, can get past the merciless profanity, drug abuse/drug selling, violence, and sex, you will discover a gangster movie rife with, first and foremost, strong themes of redemption and self-righteousness.

DMX's character, Tommy Brown, is nothing short of America's worst nightmare; a drug-selling, drug-abusing, gun-toting, foul-mouthed womanizer who doesn't care who he hurts to get ahead in life. And Nas's character, Sincere, is quite the opposite. Though far less violent and hedonistic in lifestyle, he tags along with Tommy and enjoys the gangster lifestyle at first. He soon, however, begins reading self-help books and follows the work of a man who calls himself "The Minister." The Minister preaches, in his books, of self-empowerment and self-righteousness; this is a man Sincere begins believing in more and more as, slowly but surely, the path of righteousness that he so reads about he begins to truly embrace.

Tommy, however, is involved in everything from recruiting high school students to run drugs with him in Atlanta, Georgia & gunning down various crime lords out in Jamaica with big cheese Lennox (Louie Rankin), to receiving felatio from a 16 year-old female back in Queens, New York (in a scene that sees him talking on a cell phone to his girlfriend as this is happening).

The film beautifully depicts two separate sides to one ugly story, as well as the consequences a life of violence has on the person inflicting it, as well as the lives closely surrounding him. Tommy's actions have a domino effect on his girlfriend (who he is cheating on, as you have probably guessed), a friend of his named Knowledge who recruits a local hood named Shameek (Method Man) to take care of competition in Omaha, Nebraska, and later on, someone very close to Tommy. Things start off "great" for Tommy and Sincere as we see that they do not live in the ghetto but, in fact, nice suburban homes and have what appears to be a nice collection of money for both of them. As the film wears on, Sincere starts to question life's purpose, as well as his own, and Tommy denounces it; saying we are only here to “get money” and live wealthy. Despite everything he has, Tommy can't get enough.

Hype's direction is pitch-perfect. "Belly" features a unique visual style that is strangely reminiscent of a music video (the entire film is shot and photographed like one), but it is strangely appealing nonetheless. The soundtrack is hypnotic and the ending is powerful and resonant. If there are any weaknesses at all, they can be summed up in one word; casting. With the director's potential and the fantastic ideas presented, A-list actors would have made this a top-notch gangster picture with an ending just as resonant, if not more so. As it is, it is incredibly thought-provoking. It’s also great to see rappers being treated with more respect in a film that, despite the subject matter, plays to their strengths.

By no means is “Belly” perfect. A rumored first cut that was 3 hours in length is said to have fleshed out the story much more (admittedly, it is muddled) and the plot jumps all over the place, probably from slash-happy editing. But “Belly” is so well-directed, shot, poignant in message, and starkly violent, that I applaud Hype’s talent and tenacity. We need more films like this.

8/10