Solemplex
To me, this movie is perfection.
Wordiezett
So much average
BelSports
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
logan-ensinger
The only reason this got a 2 rather than a 1 is because of the cinematography. I could go on for a lot longer than 1000 words about why this "documentary" fails to stand on its own. I consider this movie about the pretentiousness of Pras Michel than the hard living you'll find in Skid Row. First, Pras does not go on the real skid row, as mentioned earlier he spends most of the film sitting in a car garage refusing to actually go out into the scary reality. He stays out of the area, panhandles, REFUSED free food given by a kind heart on the grounds that he was vegetarian. I almost shut it off right there. That is not what this film was supposed to be.Any credibility that he was truly homeless was gone. When night time comes, I'm pretty sure he spend a maximum of one hour pretending to sleep in an alley before moving to nicer, safer ground. Again, not what was promised. Spending all of your "hard earned" money on one meal does not portray as desperate a situation as I had expected, and I found myself raging more and more at the subject than what was supposed to be the focus. There are plenty of better documentaries out there if you are interested in the subject, and with a lot less whining and crying from the "actor". One real night on Skid Row would have scared this guy right back into his penthouse.
johnnymacbest
Poverty. Decay. Social despair and isolation. The very things that continue to plague our society is portrayed here in this documentary by former "Fugee" front-man Praz as he goes this harrowing and dangerous journey on the streets of Skid Row, Los Angeles, a place so rife with decadence and hopelessness; seemingly isolated from the rest of LA that it's almost a city in itself with it's own history, culture and social norms. But at the center of it all lies heart, with a dozen of lost souls who are eager to reclaim their lost lives. Some have tried and succeeded. Some have failed. Despite their unkempt nature, these individuals are, for the most part, human beings just like everyone else. Powerful and at times disturbing, Skid Row reminds us how easy it is to fall into an inescapable situation where there is no easy way out or answers to one of society's most economically debilitating problems of the human race. For anyone whose very livelihoods are threatened by the financial turmoil that is slowly but surly crippling the nation and the world, I urge you to watch this film. To gain an understanding and think long and hard about the fragility of our society. It may hit too close to home for comfort for some, but it is essential viewing nonetheless. Only then can we, as human beings, come together and eradicate this social menace of poverty once and for all.
rabzzz
Would of been a lot better if they just spent time filming and interview the homeless people of skid row. Pras' attempt at living 9 days in skid row is more of a joke then anything. He spends most of the time in a underground parking lot with this film crew. I mean they start the guy off with 9 bucks. He refuses to eat the food given at a soup kitchen. Then pan handles for a little builds up like 15 bucks and then goes and eats in a diner and spends it all. Does that seem like someone who is worried about surviving 9 days on the streets of skid row with no help?!? Hes pretentious and so far disconnected from regular people its ridiculous. The man asks a couple of mexicans working at a fruit store if he can move like 15 boxes for them for 2 dollars. The man responds by saying where only getting paid like 2 dollars. Prolly even less then that for the 5 minutes of work it would of taken to move the boxes. By watching the movie its obvious he had plenty of help from his crew while living on the street for the 9 days. Regardless the people he meets along the way and the footage of skid row is pretty good, and makes the movie decent.
moviecriticfan
I'm a student at UCLA and was lucky enough to attend the premiere of Pras' documentary, Skid Row. First of all, kudos to Pras for having the courage to go undercover and actually live on the streets with no food or shelter, and tape everything for the whole world to see. This film is extremely revealing. It introduces the homeless as people, it puts a face to the epidemic of homelessness- revealing who they are and how they ended up on the streets. I will never look at a homeless person the same way. Skid Row is not the usual boring voice-over/ talking head doc that many are acquainted with. In Skid Row, you see Pras as a vulnerable man, not as the untouchable hip-hop star of the Fugees that we are familiar with. This is honestly the best documentary I've ever seen. Skid Row definitely deserves an Oscar!
