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07/22/08
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The Hip Hop Project (2007)
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Reviews Counted:13
Fresh:5
Rotten:8
Average Rating:5.7/10
Consensus: Director Matt Ruskin's enthusiasm for the project is readily apparent, but his film is unfocused, meandering, and frustrating to watch.
Theatrical Release:May 11, 2007 Limited
Synopsis: From Executive Producers Bruce Willis and Queen Latifah, THE HIP HOP PROJECT is the compelling story of Kazi, a formerly homeless teenager who inspired a group of New York City teens to transform... [More]
Starring: Doug E. Fresh, Russell Simmons, Bruce Willis
Director: Matt Ruskin, Scott K. Rosenberg
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Reviews for The Hip Hop Project
1 - 15 (sorted by date)
Top CriticNo review available.
05/14/07
Top CriticThe film meanders, sidetracks, and frustrates -- few of the rap songs, some of them boasting wildly inspired couplets, are shown and heard in their entirety.
05/11/07
Top CriticDramatically, the movie lacks motion -- the kids don't seem a lot better off at the end -- and the point of the program escapes me. These kids badly need an education.
05/11/07
Top Critic[Director] Ruskin is so awed by his subject that he never gains the distance needed to create a bigger, more powerful picture.
05/11/07
Top CriticWill the music of The Hip Hop Project album change your life? Likely, no. Did the process of making it change the lives of those involved in its creation? Undoubtedly. And that, perhaps, is inspiration enough.
05/11/07
Top CriticThere is some inspired camera work during some of the performance sequences, but none of the performances themselves stick. It's a shame when a film about the power of music doesn't contain one memorable song.
05/11/07
Top CriticThe live performances sizzle. Expect genuine passion behind the music, even when you wonder, as an MTV interviewer does during the film, whether these kids are that much more captivating than a million other hip-hop hopefuls.
05/11/07
Top CriticAll of this is related in a well-meaning, would-be uplifting but ultimately ham-handed manner somewhere between a PBS documentary and a TV movie of the week.
05/11/07
Top CriticIn fact, it is the tyro director's slapdash structure and pacing that distract from the film's content. A rather haphazard architect of his own material, Ruskin tends to rush certain crucial developments while lingering on more lackluster details.
05/11/07
Top CriticIn a nation that's stripped arts instruction from the public schools, the Hip Hop Project seems like a godsend.
05/10/07
Top CriticThe film works best when it pays specific attention to how hard it is to write a rhyme worth hearing.
05/10/07
Top CriticThere's not enough story to the story, which is curious, given that rap is ultimately a tale-telling medium.
05/10/07
Top CriticThe Hip Hop Project has a good heart and more than a little trouble organizing its thoughts.
05/10/07
Top CriticThe most impressive accomplishment of Project is not the student-made album, but that when Kazi says cheesy things like 'This is healing through hip-hop,' you actually believe him.
05/08/07
Top Critic1 - 15 (sorted by date)
Latest News for The Hip Hop Project
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