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Never Die Alone (2004)

tomatometer

26

Average Rating: 4.1/10
Reviews Counted: 90
Fresh: 23 | Rotten: 67

DMX's menacing charisma is put to good use in this stylish but hackneyed modern-day noir.

28

Average Rating: 4.3/10
Critic Reviews: 29
Fresh: 8 | Rotten: 21

DMX's menacing charisma is put to good use in this stylish but hackneyed modern-day noir.

audience

64

liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 10,217

My Rating

Movie Info

From a script from first-time scribe James Gibson comes this filmed adaptation of ex-gangster Donald Goines' 1974 novel Never Die Alone. Directed by Ernest R. Dickerson (Juice, Bones), the films stars David Arquette as Paul Pawlowski, a reporter who takes an interest in gang kingpin King David, played by rapper/actor DMX. When King David is killed, Pawlowski happens upon the criminal's journal and envelops himself in his story. From there, the rise and fall of King David is covered in flashbacks

R,

Drama, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense

James Gibson

Jul 13, 2004

$5.5M

Fox Searchlight Pictures - Official Site External Icon

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Cast

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All Critics (94) | Top Critics (32) | Fresh (23) | Rotten (67) | DVD (19)

Thumbs down for me.

March 29, 2004 Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A bumbling adaptation.

March 26, 2004
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

What makes Never Die Alone so monumentally terrible isn't just its bearhugging of gangsta flick convention, but its desperate attempt to imbue run-of-the-mill crime with noir classicism.

March 26, 2004
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The various stories are strong enough to compensate for any acting deficiencies.

March 26, 2004 Full Review Source: Toronto Star
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

If not for the excessive melodrama, lousy dialogue, clumsy acting and generally nasty vibe, "Never Die Alone" could have had the kind of distinctive edge that made urban street dramas like Juice, Menace II Society...

March 26, 2004 Full Review Source: Seattle Times
Seattle Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

DMX has all the charisma you'd expect of a music star, and he uses it to portray King David as larger than life.

March 26, 2004 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Violent movie starring rapper DMX is not for kids.

December 26, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media

This is not a workable drama, just a series of ideas that rap stars who worship Scarface think would be cool to see.

July 28, 2004 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com
eFilmCritic.com

It's too bad the filmmakers couldn't find a way to present [Goines's] vision without resorting to some pretty threadbare clichés.

May 20, 2004 Full Review Source: Film Journal International
Film Journal International

His death was moving; his life was not. It's a requiem for a scumbag--one who left a whole lotta decent people destroyed in his wake.

April 16, 2004 Full Review
Philadelphia Weekly

[A] gritty film noir [about] a sleazy drug pusher looking for redemption, but who - in classic noir fashion - learns that there is no escaping paying for one's past sins.

April 3, 2004 Full Review

Hampered by its convoluted plot and a marked melodramatic streak that counteracts the film's cool factor.

April 3, 2004 Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine
Boxoffice Magazine

There's neither action nor thrill in this so-called action thriller, and there's really no reason to sit through it.

April 2, 2004
Reel.com

Never Die Alone is one of those dreadful movies that wants us to think it is deep and philosophical, but it's junk masquerading as art.

April 2, 2004 Full Review Source: WaffleMovies.com
WaffleMovies.com

If movies like Bad Lieutenant and Spun are your idea of a good time, then DMX has the film for you.

March 31, 2004 Full Review Source: FilmStew.com

This is a violence-ridden movie with one of the most despicable characters you ever will see.

March 31, 2004 Full Review
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

This 'gangsta noir' is a worthy heir to both 'blaxploitation' and to the Warner Bros. gangster classics that linked economic hardship and the allure of crime...

March 30, 2004
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

Like its main character, Never Die Alone is beyond redemption.

March 29, 2004 Full Review
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

A pimped-up facsimile of David Goines' novel. I can't think of a more apt description of this misogynist and deeply flawed film noir.

March 29, 2004

A misogynistic, dull-witted bore.

March 28, 2004 Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle
Austin Chronicle

...the story is certainly a throwback to the films of the '70s.

March 28, 2004 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews
Reel Film Reviews

David's remorse barely registers against the movie's basking in criminal excess. And with the exception of character actor Tiny Lister, the cast tries way too hard to be tough.

March 27, 2004 Full Review Source: Boston Herald
Boston Herald

The only thing that could improve Never Die Alone is a caring projectionist, a lighter, and a trashcan.

March 26, 2004 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com
Filmcritic.com

Fans of Goines will want to see this, because this is the first of his works to make it to the silver screen. Other than that, there's no reason to see it.

March 26, 2004
Greenwich Village Gazette

Audience Reviews for Never Die Alone

A slow starting Urban Thriller that is worth bearing with to reveal the true plot behind the film. In honesty the film is just easy watching, but has been seen time and time again and offers nothing new to this style of film.
February 19, 2007
76Majikat

Super Reviewer

Movies awesome. DMX's best film. It's kind of insane, and tragic, through out the entire movie - but the storyline and twist, and everything, is beyond good. It's sad but great, at the same time. It tells it like it is. Check it out
June 27, 2007
bhobbs1985

Super Reviewer

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