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Street Smart

Street Smart

Thriller · Crime · Drama · 1987

A New York journalist lies when his fake story about a pimp describes a real pimp up for murder.

Movie details

Street Smart

“Never let the truth ruin a good story.”

1987 Thriller · Crime · Drama 1h 37m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.0 / 10

Community rating

A New York journalist lies when his fake story about a pimp describes a real pimp up for murder.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Street Smart?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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True Crime

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Boozer, skirt chaser, careless father. You could create your own list of reporter Steve Everett's faults but there's no time. A San Quentin Death Row prisoner is slated to die at midnight – a man Everett has suddenly realized is innocent.

Bordertown

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American corporations are using the North American Free Trade Agreement by opening large maquiladoras right across the United States–Mexico border. The maquiladoras hire mostly Mexican women to work long hours for little money in order to produce mass quantity products. Lauren Adrian, an impassioned American news reporter for the Chicago Sentinel wants to be assigned to the Iraq front-lines to cover the war. Instead, her editor George Morgan assigns her to investigate a series of slayings involving young maquiladora factory women in a Mexican bordertown.

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Kill the Messenger

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Jerry Schatzberg

Written by

David Freeman

Christopher Reeve

Christopher Reeve

Jonathan Fisher

Kathy Baker

Kathy Baker

Punchy

Mimi Rogers

Mimi Rogers

Alison Parker

Jay Patterson

Jay Patterson

Leonard Pike

Andre Gregory

Andre Gregory

Ted Avery

Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman

Leo "Fast Black" Smalls, Jr.

Anna Maria Horsford

Anna Maria Horsford

Harriet

Court is in session

Put Street Smart on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Big-Idea Head

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.