Harsh 'hood reality and good acting? Now that's quite a score.
Comment
10/25/02
Paid in Full (2002)
51
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:41
Fresh:21
Rotten:20
Average Rating:5.8/10
Consensus: Though well-acted and non-exploitative, Paid in Full treads a very well-worn story.
Theatrical Release:Oct 25, 2002 Wide
Box Office: $3,042,188
Synopsis: Set in the early 1980s, this entry in the African-American urban gangster genre puts character development in the front seat for a change as it rolls through the Harlem streets on its usual... [More]
Get This Movie
Rent DVD
Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.
Buy DVD
Reviews for Paid in Full
Very familiar, yes, but a stylish and above all well-acted tale of friendships gone sour and the inevitable steep price of crime -- a much better movie than it’s ever going to get credit for.
10/28/02
If there's a way to effectively teach kids about the dangers of drugs, I think it's in projects like the (unfortunately R-rated) Paid.
10/25/02
"Paid In Full" is not the kind of movie that George W. Bush will ever see.
11/21/05
Click to read the article
10/24/02
Paid in Full is remarkably engaging despite being noticeably derivative of Goodfellas and at least a half dozen other trouble-in-the-ghetto flicks.
10/22/02
It does offer an uncommon thoughtfulness that makes it far less exploitative or sensationalistic than most examples of its genre.
10/25/02
Though filmed partly in Canada, Paid in Full has clever ways of capturing inner-city life during the Reagan years.
10/24/02
An intelligent crime drama, not because of the criminal activity it dramatizes but because of its powerful examination of the forces that drive criminals.
10/24/02
Bolstered by exceptional performances and a clear-eyed take on the economics of dealing and the pathology of ghetto fabulousness.
10/24/02
For a rapsploitation film to target and frown upon the darker forces of its nature is certainly a good sign for the maturation of the genre.
11/03/02
Rings true, from the smooth dialogue to the unaffected performances of the central actors.
10/25/02
Harris and Phifer's chemistry lends the inevitable tragedies some genuine punch.
01/27/09
It's good, hard-edged stuff, violent and a bit exploitative but also nicely done, morally alert and street-smart.
10/24/02
Top CriticStone seems to have a knack for wrapping the theater in a cold blanket of urban desperation.
11/15/02
I'm going to give it a marginal thumbs up. I liked it just enough.
10/29/02
Top Critic...does such a fine job of engulfing you in its world and allying you with its characters' choices, good and ill, that its shortcomings are remembered only as an afterthought.
10/22/02
This is a heartfelt mea culpa -- which gives Paid in Full much of its unexpected emotional power.
10/26/02
Instead of a hyperbolic beat-charged urban western, it's an unpretentious, sociologically pointed slice of life.
10/24/02
Top CriticThis familiar rise-and-fall tale is long on glamour and short on larger moralistic consequences, though it's told with sharp ears and eyes for the tenor of the times.
10/25/02
What’s Hot On RT
Fresh Links
Featured
History of Disney Animation 
MSN Movies offers a little background on the success of Disney Animation.
90 Years of Screen Vampires
TIME takes a look back at the history of vampires on film.
Virtuoso Vistas of Lovely Bones
Techland examines the visual splendor of Peter Jackson's upcoming film.
Recent Headlines as TV Movies
AOL put together a list of 10 recent news items that would be perfect as TV Movies.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!
IGN RSS Feeds