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Oscar-Nominated Documentary Arrives on DVD

by Kam Williams

Street Fight

In 2002, Cory Booker, a Yale-educated attorney and Rhodes scholar, threw his hat into the ring to become mayor of Newark, New Jersey. This would take a Herculean effort because to prevail at the polls he would have to unseat longtime incumbent Sharpe James.

For James' ran a well-oiled political machine which could be relied upon to turn out the vote in this predominantly black city, even though he had routinely delivered more of the spoils of victory to fat cats than to his rank-and-file followers. And during this particularly bitter campaign James was not above employing every dirty trick in the book to preserve his inner-city empire.

Besides tearing down his opponent's posters, James had his henchmen intimidate local businesses by closing down any inclined to support Booker. The Mayor also went so far to call his foe gay, white, Jewish, Republican and a Ku Klux Klan sympathizer, although none of the above was true.

But the dirty tricks paid off, and James' successful re-election run is the subject of Street Fight, an eye-opening expose' which would be considered comical were it not for the fact that Newark was a city in crisis due to the absence of ethics which had saturated city hall. At least, the film was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Documentary category, which helped spread the word about the sorry state of affairs in Newark.

Fortunately, Sharpe James was so embarrassed by his bullying behavior in the picture that he decided not to seek re-election in 2006. This paved the way for Booker to run virtually unopposed last year, and I am happy to report that since assuming office, the young urban idealist has been busy both fighting crime and eradicating any vestiges of the taint of corruption left behind by his processor.

Very good (3 stars)

Unrated

Running time: 81 minutes

Studio: Genius Productions

DVD Extras: Interview with director Marshall Curry.

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