Back in the Day (2005)

During a crime, a young man accidentally murders a preacher and then falls in love with his daughter.

Genre – Drama

Executive Producer – Walter Josten

Director(s) – James Hunter

Writer(s) – James Hunter and Michael Raffanello

Cast – Ja Rule, Tatyana Ali, Giancarlo Esposito, Ving Rhames, Joe Morton and Pam Grier

Blue Rider’s Role – Executive Producers and arranged bridge financing

Distributor(s) – First Look International, DEJ Productions, Casablanca Filmes (Brazil), Paramount Home Entertainment (Spain), PlazaVista Entertainment (Switzerland) and VCL Communications and Warner Home Video (Germany)

Release Date – 2005

Synopsis – In this urban crime drama, a young man gets involved with an old friend who is recently released from prison and participates in the murder of a preacher. Later, he falls in love with the preacher’s daughter. Ultimately, he must choose between his friend and all the things he holds dear.

Release Data:
It played at the 2004 Cannes Film Market, made its DVD debut in the U.S. on May 24, 2005, screened in Iceland in 2005 and a year later in Hungary and Spain.

Viewers’ Ratings: 
At the Internet Movie Database, as of Feb. 26, 2009, 364 people had rated Back in the Day. The groups that liked it most were people aged 17 and younger (who rated it 6.2 out of 10).

Your Video Store Shelf review:
“When it comes to its core story, Back in the Day does a decent job at conveying what’s needed.
The DVD has a behind-the-scenes featurette and a series of cast interviews.”

Major Cast and Crew Credits and Awards:

Directed by James Hunter (debut)

Written by James Hunter (debut) and Michael Raffanello (debut).

Stars Ja Rule (Scary Movie 3, Shall We Dance, The Fast and the Furious, Half Past Dead, Half Past Dead 2, Furnace, Friday After Next, Biker Boyz; Teen Choice Award nominee for Assault on Precinct 13); Tatyana Ali (Kiss the Girls, Crocodile Dundee II, Brother, Jawbreaker, The Clown at Midnight, Glory Road, Nora’s Hair Salon II, The List, Domino One and nine episodes of The Young and the Restless; three awards and six other noms for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) and Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction, Con Air, Out of Sight, Dave, Striptease, Dawn of the Dead, three Mission Impossible films, Idlewild, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, 10 episodes of Kojak and 67 other films and TV projects; won Golden Globe for Don King: Only in America; two more awards and 18 other nominations for works including Rosewood, Bringing Out the Dead, Baby Boy, Mission Impossible 2, Sins of the Father, Holiday Heart, Dark Blue and Entrapment).

Cast includes Giancarlo Esposito (Trading Places, Ali, Do the Right Thing, Malcom X, Desperately Seeking Susan, Bob Roberts, Taps, The Cotton Club, Derailed, SherryBaby, Gospel Hill, Last Holiday, five episodes of Law & Order; won National Board of Review Award for The Usual Suspects, Independent Sprit Award nom for Fresh and Image Award nom for Homicide: Life on the Street; 105 other films and TV projects); Tia Carrere (Four award nominations for Wayne’s World, True Lies and Relic Hunter; won 1994 ShoWest Female Star of Tomorrow Award; appeared in Lilo & Stitch, Rising Sun, Jury Duty, Hollow Point, Aloha Summer, Wayne’s World 2, High School High, Showdown in Little Tokyo, 15 episodes of Duck Dodgers and 63 other movies and TV projects); Joe Morton (won a Spanish Best Actor Award for The Brother From Another Planet; nominated for a SAG Award for American Gangster; also appeared in Ali, Lone Star, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, What Lies Beneath, Paycheck, The Astronaut’s Wife, Speed, Apt Pupil, Of Mice and Men, Badland, The Night Listener, 29 episodes of Eureka, nine episodes of E-Ring, five episodes of Law & Order and 89 other films and TV projects); Pam Grier (won three awards and received 21 other nominations for films and TV series including Jackie Brown, The L Word, Linc’s, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, 3 A.M. and Bones; appeared in Escape from L.A., Holy Smoke, Mars Attacks, Foxy Brown, Coffy, Ft. Apache the Bronx, The Package, Greased Lightning, Above the Law, The Big Doll House, 62 episodes of The L Word, five episodes of Crime Story and 70 other films and TV projects); Paul Benjamin (SAG Award nom for The Station Agent; appeared in Midnight Cowboy, Do the Right Thing, Escape From Alcatraz, Hoodlum, Rosewood, Nuts, Ascension Day, Across 110th Street and 52 other movies and TV projects); Badja Djola (The Hurricane, The Last Boy Scout, Mississippi Burning, Night Shift, Rosewood, The Waterdance, The Players Club, The Serpent and the Rainbow, The Last Don, A Rage in Harlem and 37 other movies and TV projects); Frank Langella (won four awards and nine nominations for movies and TV specials including Dracula, Monkey House, Diary of a Mad Housewife, Starting Out in the Evening, I Leonardo: A Journey of the Mind and Good Night and Good Luck; also appeared in Superman Returns, Red Dragon, The Ninth Gate, Dave, Lolita, Junior, House of D, The Twelve Chairs, Small Soldiers, Bad Company, Frost/Nixon, 10 episodes of Unscripted, five episodes of Kitchen Confidential and 57 other movies and TV projects); Debbi Morgan (four awards and seven nominations for films and TV projects including Eve’s Bayou, All My Children, Soul Food and The Hurricane; also appeared in Taxi Driver, She’s All That, Coach Carter, Mandingo, Love & Basketball, Relative Strangers, Roots: The Next Generation, Port Charles, 94 episodes of All My Children, 14 episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful, eight episodes of Charmed, six epiodes of What’s Happening, four episodes of Boston Public and 42 other movies and TV projects); Al Sapienza (Pretty Woman, Godzilla, Lethal Weapon 4, Judge Dredd, Cellular, Frankie and Johnny, The Hollywood Sign, Bomb the System, 10 episodes of The Sopranos, six episodes of Brotherhood, four episodes of Prison Break and 109 other movies and TV projects); Davetta Sherwood (Venom, 78 episodes of The Young and The Restless, six episodes of Platinum and two episodes of Boston Public); Rafa Alvarez (Animal, Christmas in Paradise, Au Pair III) and Lahmard J. Tate (Rocky Balboa, Barbershop, Barfly, Breakfast of Champions, Jason’s Lyric, Little Richard and Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood).

Executive producers are Walter Josten (Emmy for The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie; also produced Shergar, Around the World in 80 Days, Bar Starz, Then She Found Me, O Jerusalem, Rescue Dawn; 32 other films and TV projects); Jeff Geoffray (Slow Burn, Behind the Red Door, Surveillance, Bar Starz, Rescue Dawn, Three, Home of the Giants; 25 other films and TV projects); Charles Bloye (The Shadow Dancer, Our Fathers, The Keeper and Hollywood Files); Steven J. Brown (Yellow, Adrift in Manhattan, Misconceptions); Gary Howsam (Silver Wolf, High Explosive, A Twist of Faith, The Deal, The Shadow Dancers, Crime Spree, Belly of the Beast, Chapter 27, Ripper, 10 episodes of The Tudors and 53 other movies and TV projects); Adam Lane (debut); Peter A. Marshall (Liberty Stands Still, Skipped Parts, After the Storm, The Reading Room, Claire) and Andrew Reimer (Slow Burn, The Matador, Peaceful Warrior, Animal, My Date With Drew).

Producers are Kip Konweiser (won Emmy, CableACE and Golden Laurel Awards for Miss Evers Boys; won a Sports Emmy for On Hallowed Ground: Streetball Champions of Rucker Park: also produced The Wash, Focus, Shanghai Kiss, Smile, The Last Game, Dallas 362); Neil Davis (Shelter Island, Manito); Rafael Eisenman (Dark Angel, I Madman, Eyes of an Angel, Red Shoe Diaries and 27 episodes of Red Shoe Diaries); Peggy Fry (Shelter Island, Manito) and Harel Goldstein (Curse of the Starving Class, P.U.N.K.S., Kevin of the North, Global Heresy, Sweating Bullets).

Original Music by Robert Folk (won ASCAP Award for Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls; also scored Bachelor Party, Tremors, Police Academy and seven sequels, Can’t Buy Me Love, Nothing to Lose, Kung Pow: Enter the Fist, three episodes of Faerie Tale Theatre and 54 other films and TV projects).

Cinematography by Donald M. Morgan (won five Emmys, five other major awards and six other nominatons for works including Something the Lord Made, For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story, Out of the Ashes, The Siege at Ruby Ridge, Geronimo, Elvis, Murder in Mississippi and Dillinger; also shot Christine, Starman, Used Cars, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Meatballs: Part II, Vengeance Unlimited, Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York, eight episodes of Crossing Jordan and 56 other movies and TV projects).

Film Editing by Chris Holmes (Five Easy Pieces, The Natural, Nighthawks, The Patriot, Tears of the Sun, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Hearts and Minds, Drive He Said, The Last Dragon, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, The Dunwich Horror and 33 other movies and TV projects).

Production Design by Marc Greville-Masson (The Source, I Witness, Candyman: Day of the Dead, No Strings Attached, 15 episodes of Red Shoe Diaries and 13 episodes of ChromiumBlue.com).

Art Direction by Mayna Magruder (Fascination, Wuthering Heights, Michael Angel, Kings of South Beach).

Costume Design by Jayme Bohn (Who’s Your Caddy, Take, The Genius Club, Humanoids From the Deep, The Pandora Project, 100 Mile Rule, 26 episodes of Acapulco Heat, 22 episodes of Black Scorpion and seven episodes of Sweet Valley High).

Special Effects coordinated by Charlie Bonilla (Contact, Bad Boys II, Under Suspicion, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, The Reaping, For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story, The Argentine and 40 other movies and TV projects).

Visual Effects coordinated by Christopher Dusendschon (Memento, Donnie Darko, Crash, Galaxy Quest, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Pi, The Notebook, The Virgin Suicides, 100 Feet, Ghost World, Maria Full of Grace, Kevin of the North, five episodes of The Tracey Ullman Show and 542 other films and TV projects.

Release Data:
U.S. DVD premiere on May 24, 2005. It debuted in Iceland in November 2005 and in Hungary and Spain in 2006.

Links:
Internet Movie Database entry for Back in the Day

Back in the Day trailer at imdb.com