Dead Presidents (film)

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
In this daring heist, the only color that counts is green


This action film, directed by the Hughes Brothers, depicts a heist of old bills, retired from circulation and destined by the government to be "money to burn." However, more broadly, it addresses the issues of Black Americans' involvement in the Vietnam War and their subsequent disillusionment with progress in social issues and civil rights back home in the United States, during the 1960's.

Larenz Tate is Anthony Curtis, a good-natured high school kid in 60s New York who is enjoying life with his girlfriend, Delilah Benson (N'Bushe Wright) and good friends, Skip (Chris Tucker in an early role) and Jose (Freddy Rodriguez) and running numbers for a local tough guy, Kirby (Keith David). Those days are not to last, however, as all three of the young friends end up in Vietnam. Following a fairly lengthy and well-done segment in the Nam, all three end up back in the old neighborhood, where Anthony finds adjusting to civilian life difficult. Soon (and rather suddenly), the whole bunch of them are planning an armored car heist, with Curtis' girlfriend sister whom also happens to be a radical black panther member. The heist of course end up having disastrous consequences.

Tropes used in Dead Presidents (film) include:
  • Badass Curtis, Delilah (whom is a black radical), Cleon during their tour in Vietnam, and of course Dougan "the crazy white boy from Ohio" who toured in Vietnam with Curtis.
  • Badass Preacher, Cleon during the war, but trurned into a typical born again baptist preacher after the war.

"[After Cleon blasts a Viet Cong in the head, killing him] Cleon: Now you're good, now Jesus loves you."

  • Berserk Button: Anthony's is pretty close to the surface following his return from Vietnam, which is partly what gets him into so much trouble.
  • The Caper
  • Cluster F-Bomb: Like, fuck, man, these motherfuckers use the word "fuck" every fucking chance they get....
  • Downer Ending: Anthony is sentenced to life in prison for armed robbery and murder.Skip dies from a heroin overdose and is discovered by policemen raiding his home. Delilah is killed in a gunfight during the heist. During the getaway, Jose runs down an alley while a squad car pursues him. He shoots and kills the the driver, but the alley is a dead end and he gets smashed between the wall and the car. We can also assume that Kirby either dies or receives a sentence at least as long as Anthony's if not longer.
  • Gorn, The Vietnam segments and the heist it self.
  • Guilt Ridden Accomplice Cleon, he rats out the others as well
  • Guns Akimbo: Delilah during the heist with two 1911's.
  • Justified Criminal
  • Just Like Robin Hood: After the heist, the surviving gang members use some of their loot to buy Christmas presents for poor children.
  • Looks Like Cesare: The robbers' face paint during the heist.
  • Malcolm Xerox, played straight with Delilah, but justified given the time period.
  • Nightmare Sequence, Curtis suffers one which over laps with his job as a butcher, and his violent Vietnam flashbacks. Which makes for a very disturbing bone chilling sequence..Brrr...
  • Playing Against Type, Chris Tucker's gritty portrayal of a Vietnam veteran wasted on heroin, and possibly suffering from agent orange.
  • Plethora of Mistakes
  • Psycho Party Member: Cleon was this during his stint in 'Nam. Dougan also showed heavy shades of this. Interestingly enough Kirby didn't want Delilah to be in on The Caper because he thought she was one of these saying

"Oh, no, no, no, no. I don't want none of them revolutionary niggas involved."

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