Rating: R
Genre:
Drama
Theatrical Release: 10/23/1992(USA)
Release Date: 06/18/2002
SubTitles: English/French
Dubbed: English
Sound: DDS
Run Time: 101 Minutes
Flags: Violence, Questionable for Children, Profanity, Sexual Situations, Watch With Your Teen
Distributor/Studio: Columbia TriStar
An interracial romance sparks social upheaval in this indie
drama from first-time writer/director
Anthony Drazan. Jewish high school student
Zack Glass (
Michael Rapaport) lives with his widowed, womanizing father (
Ray Sharkey) in one of the nicer areas of Detroit. His pop and grandfather own a pair of vintage record stores full of everything from
swing and
jazz to
soul and
disco;
Zack carries on the vinyl-centric family tradition by selling
hip-hop mix tapes out of his locker and mixing fiddles and
Puccini into his DJ sets at local parties. One day at school, beautiful New Jersey transfer student
Nikki (
N'Bushe Wright) witnesses
Zack's girlfriend unceremoniously dumping him; when it turns out that
Zack's best friend,
Dee Wimms (
DeShonn Castle), is
Nikki's cousin, the stage is set for romance -- the first interracial pairing for each teen.
Dee is happy to play matchmaker, but members of the
Wimms clan aren't as pleased with the romance.
Nikki's mother,
Marlene (
Candy Ann Brown), asks
Zack point-blank if he's curious about black women -- or just slumming it. Such mild disapproval is nothing compared to the rage felt by
Nut (
Ron Johnson), a young troublemaker who wants to romance
Nikki himself. When
Nikki overhears
Zack making a racially insensitive comment about her to his pals at a party, she questions the viability of their relationship; the next day, she finds herself making time with
Nut, who displays an unexpected tender streak. When
Zack shows up at the local skating rink to talk to
Nikki and sees
Nut pestering her, things spiral out of control. Soon, the lines are drawn in a community-wide debate about interracial dating and urban violence.
Zebrahead earned a Filmmaker's Trophy for
Drazan at
Sundance in 1992 and launched the successful careers of
Rapaport and
Wright. Indie fans will notice
Kevin Corrigan in an elliptical subplot involving the industrial disintegration of the Motor City.
~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
