春芽

　　Having witnessed his junkie father killed Russell Stevens grows up to become a policeman and make a difference. When he is offered an undercover job by Gerald Carver he accepts and begins to build a relationship with David Jason in order to get to the main dealers. However as he is forced to deal drugs and kill to keep his cover he finds the lines between cop and criminal being lost – is he a cop pretending to be a dealer or a dealer pretending to be a cop?
　　Larry (as he was then) Fishburne's first lead role was a typically dark vehicle. The story is the usual one of cop losing himself when undercover, however it manages to be more than that for most of the time. Co-written by Tolkin, who wrote The Player, this naturally has a nice cynical edge to it when it looks at the US's hypocritical approach to drug control and the political links between the street hustlers and the political high rollers who court respectability. The story does eventually settle into a traditional setting but even then it works well as a thriller.
　　The multi-talented Bill Duke directs well with a gritty feel and a few nice touches. However several things are a bit iffy. For most of the film Fishburne's narration/voice over is a bit like a cross between Apocalypse Now and Blade Runner – it comes across as a little too dark and heavy and also explains things like we can't figure it out ourselves. However once you get into the film it's not as big a deal. My main problem lies with the characters.
　　Fishburne is excellent, a real model of underlying anger and violence, Goldblum is good but perhaps a little OTT on the yuppie/violence thing, but there's good support from Smith and Spin City's beautiful (and often underused – but not here) Victoria Dillard. However the two main white characters (Goldblum and Smith) are both smeared with racist insinuations – Smith appears to insult his black officers and doesn't care about the junkies, while Goldblum is fascinated about all things black and talks about them as wild beautiful beasts and loves having sex with "black'. These things aren't a major problem, but with basically only two white characters in it, it's a little worrying that both are given that edge.
　　However these are minor complaints that get lost with a good thriller. Fishburne excels and Duke delivers a story that is a good thriller but also has a jaded, subversive edge.

　　冬日温煦的阳光照在层峦叠嶂的群山上，给地处湖北西北部的偏远山区涂上了一层暖暖的金黄。透过青松和翠竹的掩映，连接山寨的泥泞小路上，一个背着背篓的中年男子正艰难地朝远处一个低矮的山寨走去。他，就是宣恩县椿木营乡民政干部周国知。从干上民政干部的第一天起，周国知就把“上为党分忧、下为民解难”作为自己的最高行动准则，全乡需要政府救助的优扶安置对象、五保供养人员，在他的心里一清二楚。
　　冬天来了。为了早一天买回福利院冬季取暖用煤，周国知强忍病痛，带着司机跑到几百里外的建始。回来的路上，周国知再也忍受不住腹部撕裂般的疼痛，在司机小覃的再三催促下来到医院。由于化验结果一时出不来，周国知留下电话后就往宣恩赶。医生哪里知道，周国知是怕耽误家里的工作。果不其然，刚进办公室，低保户容天桥就跑来催要救济款了。通常情况下，县里的救济款要等年前才能拨下来，但周国知理解容天桥的急迫。几天后，周国知就背着种子、化肥，带上自己的钱，走上几十里山路来到容天桥的家中。此时，医院打来电话让周国知放下手上所有工作马上去医院治疗。对于自己的病情，周国知以为只是轻微的胃病，从来没放在心上，何况这一次年关将近，周国知更是没把医院的话当回事。
　　春节刚过，椿木营乡“消茅”工作会议上，乡里把帮助至今仍居住茅草棚、岩洞的特困群众盖上新房搬进新居被列为当年的工作重点。然而，此时的周国知已经面黄肌瘦，憔悴不堪。但他仍然强忍着腹部撕裂般的疼痛，不顾妻子的劝说，不知疲惫地奔走在全乡一百多户困难家庭中。周国知被医院确诊为肝癌晚期后，周国知执意让妻子把他接回家里。因为他知道，再怎么治下去也是浪费国家的钱，更何况这些年来，家里已经欠了不少的外债。
　　一个细雨裹挟着飞雪的日子，周国知在病痛的折磨中走完了他短暂的人生旅程。在他去世后不久的2003年12月1日，椿木营乡“清茅”工作全部完成，全乡127户、375名困难群众全部搬进新居。又是一个春节将至。周国知的儿子抱着父亲的遗像，和母亲、姐姐一起到县城补拍了第一张“全家福”。