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IS ‘WAIST DEEP’ CHIN DEEP IN STEREOTYPES?: Stars Tyrese, Larenz Tate, Meagan Good and director Curtis-Hall respond.
*Early reviews for the film “Waist Deep” have been mixed. The Hollywood Reporter praised director Vondie Curtis-Hall’s emphasis on non-stop action and star Tyrese Gibson for “carrying the movie on his broad shoulders.” The Associated Press, however, saw little more than pretty actors rehashing tired hood movie clichés.
Opening nationwide today, the film stars Tyrese as O2, a brother just released from jail and trying to do right by his young son. When the boy is kidnapped by Meat, a gang lord played by rapper The Game, the two-time felon jeopardizes catching a third strike by going back to the streets to retrieve his son. Along the way, he hooks up with a hustler named Coco, played by Meagan Good. Together, they hatch a plan to pit Meat’s crew against rival gangs in an effort to outsmart him.
While the film contains all the makings of a typical hood flick – gangs, guns and hot-headed young African American males – the actors say the story contains multiple elements that place the project on another level.
“I really wanted to make a movie that first of all had a black father and his son, showing father/son love, because you don’t really see that in our movies,” says Curtis-Hall. “The father’s always missing, or he’s a crackhead and shows up every now and then at the door scratching. The problem often times is you don’t see the humanity in any of these people. So I wanted the humanity of a two-time felon, the humanity of a woman who’s a hustler and then ultimately the journey of people who want to change their lives.”
“I know if I had a son, which I don’t, I would definitely be that guy,” Tyrese says of his ex-con character. “It’s one of them roles I felt was necessary to save the image and reputation of the black man, because some guys I know would’ve had their kids snatched up and been like, ‘What club we going to, dog?’”
Tyrese said the role made him feel like a grownup for the first time in his film career, which includes well-received leading performances in “Four Brothers” and “Baby Boy.”
“I felt like a man in this movie, not THE man. I felt like A man, even in the way I dealt with Meagan and her character,” he says. “I was motivated to go get my son. I felt like a man, and I ain’t seen that image in a film for a while.”
After roles as teenagers in last year’s “Roll Bounce” and 2004’s “You Got Served,” 24-year-old Meagan Good says she’s happy to finally play a character closer to her actual age for the first time.
“For me, it’s an open door to say, ‘Hey, I can play this, I can play my age,’” she says. “But I definitely wouldn’t mind going backwards at the same token because in the next five, six years, I’m gonna look older and I’m going to be playing those [older] parts anyway. So while I can still milk the teenager [roles], why not? I have the rest of my life to be an adult.”
The actress – who has quietly amassed over 20 feature films, including the upcoming “Steppin’” opposite Ne-Yo – says Coco is more than just the stereotypical sexpot dropped into an urban film for eye candy.
“That wasn’t the focus of what that character was about,” she says. “It was more about everything else that was going on in her life and she used that [sexiness] to her advantage.”
Larenz Tate is also in the film as O2’s cousin Lucky, a somewhat shady brother whose loyalty is divided between his gang and his family. The 30-year-old actor, whose memorable role as sociopath O-Dog in 1992’s “Menace II Society” helped launch the hood film genre, says “Waist Deep” offered him a chance to do something a little deeper.
“A lot of people want to see me do more edgier stuff,” he says. “They were big fans of ‘Menace to Society’ and ‘Dead Presidents’ and so, this was an opportunity for me to be able to do an edgier role. It’s not your stereotypical hood movie. This movie elevates it. It’s an action film, it has suspense to it.”
Given the suspense, the tight action sequences and father/son love present in “Waist Deep,” does America really need another film that shows young black males robbing and shooting and carjacking – all to the tune of a hip hop soundtrack? The same question was asked of 50 Cent during interviews for “Get Rich or Die Tryin’,” and will likely be asked again when the next gun-heavy urban drama comes out.
“It’s a circle, these movies will come back around,” explains Tate. “People like them. And Hollywood is a business at the end the day. [It’s like] what can we sell? I’ve been on the other side of it. I know what it’s like to produce, and you wanna make money.”
“There are not a lot of opportunities all the time for us to do movies, unfortunately,” Tate adds. “You have your certain tier of African American actors, the Martins, the Wills and the Denzels. They’re being recycled, which is good. I love those guys, I look up to them, but when you’re not doing 150, 200 million dollars at the box office, movies are very difficult to do. So, I’m just happy to be able to be a part of this. And this is not some kind of ‘Oh I’m doing it because this was the only thing available.’ I responded to the script. I liked the movie. I like these movies as well. I like ‘Menace,’ I like ‘Boyz N the Hood,’ I like ‘Baby Boy.’ We can make a lot of happy movies all the time, if they make money, great. You can look at my body of work. I try to avoid being pigeon-holed in any kind of way. But I do understand the importance of these movies. And if we can say something while entertaining, then great.”
In getting his grown man on as O2, Tyrese points to his character’s undying devotion to his son as proof that “Waist Deep” is not your typical urban flick.
“The good fathers that are out there don’t ever get the kind of press that the bad fathers get, as far as black men in particular,” he says. “So I felt like it was every bit of necessary to switch that image up and show that there are some good men out there who are 150 percent men and want their kids, and love their kids, will die for their kids and put it all on the line. That’s who I would be if I had kids.”
