Directed, Written, Produced, and Edited by
Marshall Curry
DVD Release Date: January 9, 2007
Run Time: 82 minutes
Unrated
The Movie
At first glance, one would assume that Street Fight has the potential to be no more than mildly interesting. Why should anyone but the hardest political junkies care about Newark’s 2002 mayoral election?
As it turns out, there are plenty of reasons.
Street Fight is the utterly engrossing story of said political race in New Jersey between longtime incumbent Sharpe James and relative political newcomer Cory Booker. Both James and Booker are African-American Democrats, so by all accounts, the contest should simply be one of youth versus experience. The race should focus of policy. It should be civil.
But as the documentary’s title implies, little is seen of the policy differences between our two candidates.
The Sharpe James political machine turns out to be shockingly brutal and underhanded (mind you, I live in Chicago). Booker supporters are intimidated, businesses displaying Booker signs are shut down for “code violations”, our cameraman/director Marshall Curry is repeatedly accosted, accusations of terrorism are let fly, and so on. Such scenes give us an unflinching look at the brutal heart of street level politics.
The scope of the film goes beyond simple politics, though. The race soon becomes about race. As a young and successful graduate of Yale Law, Cory Booker is deemed “not black enough” by Sharpe and many of the black community. He is labeled a White Republican despite being neither.
Street Fight is not your average political doc, as we move beyond policy and witness mob mentality, race, “the big lie”, and the underbelly of humanity.
It is a film that everyone should see. No matter if you are Republican, Democrat, or unaffiliated.
The DVD
Street Fight offers only one special feature: a 10 minute interview with Marshall Curry. He fills in some details about who he is, how the film was made, and what happened after filming.
