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Movies / On DVD / Never Die Alone
Never Die Alone

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Never Die Alone (2004)

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Reviews Counted:88

Fresh:23

Rotten:65

Average Rating:4.1/10

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

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong violence, drug use, sexuality and language

Runtime: 89 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

Theatrical Release:Mar 26, 2004 Wide

Box Office: $5,531,230

Synopsis: Based on cult novelist Donald Goines’ novel of the same name, NEVER DIE ALONE is a richly literate film noir about King David (DMX), a hard-boiled, stylish criminal who returns to his hometown... Based on cult novelist Donald Goines’ novel of the same name, NEVER DIE ALONE is a richly literate film noir about King David (DMX), a hard-boiled, stylish criminal who returns to his hometown seeking redemption but finding only violent death. But he did not die alone...King David’s final moments are spent with Paul (David Arquette) an aspiring journalist who knew him just a few minutes but upon whose life he would forever have an impact. King David – half preacher, half Satan, and all street smarts – had recorded the story of his recent exploits on audiotape, leaving behind an often-poetic sermon on villainy and its consequences. The tapes reveal that the cycle of violence and retribution his actions have spawned has come back on him full circle, as he suspected it might all along... One of the most prolific and widely read black authors of his generation, Donald Goines wrote his first two books while incarcerated, and followed those with an astonishing 16 novels written from the time he was released from prison in 1970 until he was shot to death in 1974. The film is directed by Ernest Dickerson whose directorial debut was the 1992 drama JUICE, starring Omar Epps and the late Tupac Shakur. Previously Dickerson served as Director of Photography on seven of Spike Lee’s early films up to and including MALCOLM X. He has directed a number of feature and made-for-TV films from the recent horror movie BONES starring Snoop Dogg to the Peabody Award-winning Showtime movie "Strange Justice," based on the controversy surrounding Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas. Dickerson most recently directed the drama GOOD FENCES, starring Danny Glover and Whoopi Goldberg, which had its world premiere at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. DMX is a top rap artist who has also found great success in the film business. He starred opposite Jet Li in CRADLE 2 THE GRAVE and also appeared in BELLY, ROMEO MUST DIE and EXIT WOUNDS, for which he received a Blockbuster Breakthrough Actor nomination. His first four albums debuted at number one and sold well over 22 million records in just four years. David Arquette starred in the box office smash hits SCREAM 1, 2 and 3, which won him the Blockbuster Favorite Actor Award in 1998. For his leading role in NEVER BEEN KISSED, he was awarded the 2000 Blockbuster Award for Favorite Supporting Actor. He recently drew acclaim for his portrayal of an inmate at Auschwitz II-Birkenau in Tim Blake Nelson’s drama THE GREY ZONE. -- © Fox Searchlight [More]

Starring: DMX, David Arquette, Michael Ealy, Reagan Preston-Gomez

Starring: DMX, David Arquette, Michael Ealy, Reagan Preston-Gomez, Clifton Powell

Director: Ernest R. Dickerson

Director: Ernest R. Dickerson
Screenwriter: James Gibson
Producer: Earl Simmons, Alessandro Camon
Composer: George Duke
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures

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Release:

Jul 13, 2004

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Reviews for Never Die Alone

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1 - 20 (sorted by source)
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Half of this film is so dark and grainy it looks like the Paris Hilton sex video.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
03/25/04
Fred Topel
Fred Topel
About.com

DMX unleashes the focused, angry dominator routine that has always served as the selling point for his music.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
03/26/04
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

Never Die Alone is soft and squishy, lacking tension and suspense, not to mention logic.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
03/25/04
Randy Cordova
Randy Cordova
Arizona Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
06/14/04
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A misogynistic, dull-witted bore.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
03/28/04
Marc Savlov
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
12/27/07
Joe Lozito
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound

A flashy but ultimately routine saga of gangsta criminality and payback.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
03/26/04
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe

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.

Full Review Source: Boston Herald | comment Comment
03/27/04
Paul Sherman
Paul Sherman
Boston Herald
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
03/26/04
Boston Phoenix

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

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
04/03/04
Annlee Ellingson
Annlee Ellingson
Boxoffice Magazine

Never Die Alone is [Dickerson's] best work to date, with the complexity of serious fiction and the nerve to start dark and stay dark, to follow the logic of its story right down to its inevitable end.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
03/26/04
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Purports to be literate film noir but comes off more like the overwritten project of a film school kid who just memorized his textbook on the style.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
03/25/04
Allison Benedikt
Allison Benedikt
Chicago Tribune

This throwback to the outmoded blaxploitation genre is skillfully filmed by Dickerson, but has little else to offer besides cheap, violent thrills.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
03/25/04
David Sterritt
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor

Never Die Alone might just come to replace Showgirls as the nation's premier midnight-movie howler.

Full Review Source: City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul | comment Comment
03/25/04
Ed Gonzalez
Ed Gonzalez
City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

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...

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
03/30/04
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

The unintentional comedy of the year, so far.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
03/21/04
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

A nasty piece of work that doesn't seem to have met a cliche it didn't like.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
03/25/04
Gary Dowell
Gary Dowell
Dallas Morning News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Dark Horizons | comment Comment
04/02/05
Garth Franklin
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons

It's hard to imagine a more disturbingly woman-hating movie than Never Die Alone.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
03/26/04
Michael Booth
Michael Booth
Denver Post

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
03/27/04
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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