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Paper Soldiers | |
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Directed by | Damon Dash David Daniel |
Written by | Damon Dash Charlie Murphy Terrence Mosley |
Produced by | Damon Dash |
Starring | Kevin Hart Beanie Sigel Stacey Dash Michael Rapaport Memphis Bleek Tiffany Withers Jay-Z Angie Martinez Damon Dash N.O.R.E. Charlie Murphy Greg Travis Cam’ron Jim Jones Kamal Ahmed Jason Cerbone Kevin Carroll Derrick ‘Capone’ Lee Capone Jacob the Jeweler Lil Cease Patrice O’Neal Chris Eric Williams Derrick Simmons Paul Sado Derron ‘Smokey’ Edington |
Narrated by | Kevin Hart |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Universal Studios Home Video |
Release date |
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Running time | 88 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Paper Soldiers is a 2002 American urban crime comedy film. This hip-hop comedy from Roc-A-Fella's film division stars Kevin Hart (in his film debut), [1] Beanie Sigel, and Stacey Dash. Rapper Jay-Z appears in a cameo role. Hart plays the character Shawn, a rookie thief, who is part of a crew of thieves, doing small-time jobs like house breaking.
The crew itself is not exactly a highly polished operation, and the crew's capers result in comic mishaps far more often than actual thefts. They still manage to do some jobs like breaking into Jay-Z's house and robbing some of its material goods, but predictably, they receive prison time for robbery or aggravated assault.
Beanie Sigel plays Stu, a hot-headed hood bully who does small robberies to make some cash, while Damon Dash and Memphis Bleek act as thieves of another crew, and Stacey Dash is a beautiful woman named Tamika. Jay-Z appears as himself. Released on June 7, 2002, it was produced by Roc-A-Fella and distributed by Universal Pictures.
Shawn attends his mother's funeral with his girlfriend Monique and their son, and among others, his friends Burtie and Johnny. Burtie tries to convince Shawn to do some theft jobs, which Shawn declines at first. One day, Shawn goes to see his parole officer and she informs him that his next urine test needs to be clean and that he must keep his job at the beeper shop. Shawn arrives to work and receives his check, becoming upset at how low his payment is. After seeing the electricity at his house get cut off, he decides to accept Burtie's offer. Their first heist is a failure but they do another job the following day, this time accompanied by Johnny. Shawn is happy, as he is receiving more money with burglaries than he gets at his job.
Shawn and his friend Stu, just released from jail, decide to rob a house and discover it belongs to a famous boxer. A neighbor spots them breaking in, and they flee. Nearby detectives Johnson and Travis receive the report and a car chase ensues as the detectives chase Shawn and Stu. Shawn escapes, but Stu is arrested.
With Burtie in jail, Shawn visits Burtie's brother Will and asks to join his crew. Will accepts and trains him. On Shawn's next burglary job, he is chastised by Will and his partner Larry (who doesn't like Shawn), for using a crowbar to break into a home. Will cuts the wire of the alarm and they are able to steal the jewelry. The next day, they break into another home.
Will sees a wire is cut and they notice the back door is open. When they walk in, they find Damon Dash and Memphis Bleek robbing the home. Much to Shawn's surprise, the two are already familiar with Will and Larry, and they agree to find what they can there and split the earnings. Shawn and Johnny later rob Jay-Z's home.
Shawn then takes Monique out to celebrate his birthday at a club, along with Will, Larry and Johnny. Shawn goes to the bar and gets alcohol. As Shawn returns to his table, he sees Stu in the club. Stu then notices Pat, the mother of his kids, out with a man named Rudy. Stu confronts them and then attacks Rudy. After this, Rudy tries to leave with Pat to her home but she rejects him. He then assaults her. Pat calls Stu and Stu gets Shawn to go with him as he assaults Rudy. The next day, Shawn, Stu and Johnny break into another home, but leave early due to cops driving around the neighborhood.
Shawn goes to see his parole officer for the second time. She informs him that he failed the urine test, then warns him that if he fails the test again, he will go to jail. Shawn arrives to work and gets fired. Shawn's co-worker Kay then asks if he could join in on the burglaries, which Shawn accepts, bringing Kay along as a driver and lookout. Moments after Shawn and Johnny enter a home, Kay gets paranoid and leaves. As Shawn and Johnny exit the home, they see Kay has left. Kay comes back and bypasses them, then circles around in the car as Johnny stops Kay. They are then chased by cops. Shawn and Johnny escape, but Kay is caught.
As soon as Shawn gets home, he gets into an argument with Monique over his acts of crime. The next day, Shawn sees his parole officer again. She informs him that he once again failed the urine test. As she calls to get a cop, Shawn flees. He then meets Will and Larry at an auto body shop. They talk business with shop employee Mikey O, and he informs them about a home with lots of money.
Mikey O sends his friend Mike E. to go with them. Detectives Johnson and Travis track them down. Mike E. and Larry are caught, but Shawn and Will escape. As Shawn goes home to say goodbye to Monique and their son, he sees the house is empty.
The cops catch up to Shawn. He tries to escape but gets caught. He receives a 12-year prison sentence, but serves less on good behavior. The film ends as it began, with Shawn playing dominoes with Burtie and Johnny, as he delivers a message to the audience to not break into homes.
Nathan Rabin gave the film a mixed review in The Dissolve, claiming the film was an example of "rapsploitation" and that plot was "wobbly", while also crediting the film for being able to bring "its world context and color". [2]
Roc-A-Fella Records was an American hip hop record label and music management company founded by record executives and entrepreneurs Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Damon Dash, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke in 1994. Carter issued his debut album, Reasonable Doubt (1996) as the label's first release, in a joint venture with Priority Records. The label has signed and released albums for acts including Kanye West, Cam'ron, Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek, Juelz Santana, Freeway, Jadakiss, Teairra Marí, State Property, and The Diplomats before its dissolution in 2013.
Dwight Equan Grant, better known by his stage name Beanie Sigel, is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He first became known for his association with Jay-Z, as a flagship artist for his now-defunct label imprint, Roc-A-Fella Records. Grant's debut studio album, The Truth (2000) was released through the label and met with critical and commercial success, peaking at number five on the Billboard 200. Along with his solo career, Grant was the de facto leader of the Philadelphia-based collective State Property, whom were also signed to Roc-A-Fella and debuted in 2002 with a namesake film in which Grant starred. The group released two well-received studio albums.
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