Where to watch Jason’s Lyric
3 1/2 Stars
The story of a young man, Jason (Allen Payne) who must confront his trauma-induced insecurity about love, as well as a sense of owed responsibility to his mother and troubled brother Joshua (Bokeem Woodbine). Jason, an assistant manager and sales clerk at an electronics store, falls in love with Lyric (Jada Pinkett Smith) and finds happiness, but his family history and mentally ill war veteran father, Maddog (Forest Whitaker) plague his life’s plans before he can leave it all for a better life.
Jason’s Lyric is a Romeo and Juliet tale for our (more violent) inner-city times. While there is a ‘hood element to the story, director Doug Mchenry seems more influenced by the arty work from Spike Lee, particularly in the rhyming street person that punctuates each act. It’s almost like the Greek chorus, aloft on Mt. Olympus, lamenting the foolish actions of the mortals.
The film is anchored by three excellent performances by Allen Payne and Jada Pinkett as the lovers and Bookem Woodbine as the loose cannon ex-con brother who gets wrapped up in a bank robbery scheme. Payne was effective in New Jack City, and Pinkett-Smith was equally well cast in Menace to Society, but here she is a luminous ray of warmth. Her smokey eyes and predilection for spouting poetry make Lyric a memorable character in an unforgiving story.
Jason’s Lyrics is a four-star romance surrounded by a three-star gangster flick. Both genres fight it out, and the result can be tonally choppy but never boring. The final shot is essentially a cheat; it feels false and nearly undermines all that has come before. It has the ring of test market interference, as if audiences didn’t understand the plot points in classical narrative tragedies. However, Jason’s Lyrics is a gripping film with powerful performances and a hit soundtrack.
Directed by: Doug McHenry
Written by: Bobby Smith Jr.
Starring: Allen Payne, Jada Pinkett Smith, Bokeem Woodbine