Street Smart

Morgan Freeman earned his first Oscar nomination for his portrayal of a violent, scarily manipulative pimp called Fast Black in Jerry Schatzberg’s hard-edged 1987 drama set in New York, “Street Smart” (streaming on Tubi and on Pluto TV). The character, rooted in stereotypes, anchors a story that holds a mirror up to them. Christopher Reeve stars as Jonathan Fisher, a Harvard-educated journalist who escapes from the life-style beat by profiling a pimp named Tyrone—whom he made up. When Fast Black is charged with a murder, he is assumed to be the basis for Tyrone, and his attorney (Frederick Rolf), knowing that he isn’t, subpoenas Jonathan’s notes in order to turn the criminal case into a “constitutional confrontation”; then Fast Black lures Jonathan into his inner circle and forces the issue. The plot focusses on the oblivious—and almost all-white—mainstream media, immured in its glass towers, whose reporters and editors are anything but street-smart. It takes one of the few Black journalists on the scene (Donna Bailey) to call Jonathan out; Freeman, investing the Machiavellian schemer with high-wire control and pent-up fury, hints at worlds that Hollywood could hardly fathom. (Sept. 2.)