Fresh

Fresh is a 1994 crime drama about a twelve-year-old boy living in Brooklyn who works as a drug courier. Known on the streets as Fresh, Michael seems unremarkable to the adults around him, yet he moves drugs for local dealers and passes crack to street-level sellers, while still attending school. He keeps a secret from the people he works for: he spends time with his estranged father, a homeless and alcoholic man who teaches him to play chess. Those lessons in strategy and patience shape how Michael sees the world. His sister Nichole is being destroyed by the drug trade, and the violence he witnesses around him pushes him toward a plan of his own — one that turns the men who employ him against each other.

The film was directed by Boaz Yakin, who also wrote the screenplay, with Lawrence Bender and Randy Ostrow producing. It was Yakin's first feature, followed later by Remember the Titans, Uptown Girls, Safe, Max, Boarding School, Aviva and Once Again (for the very first time). Sean Nelson plays Michael opposite Giancarlo Esposito as Esteban and Samuel L. Jackson as Sam, with N'Bushe Wright as Nichole, Ron Brice as Corky and Jean-Claude La Marre as Jake. Made for about 4 million USD and released in June 1994, it took in roughly twice that amount worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.5/10 from around 16,000 votes, on TMDB 7.2/10 from 248 votes, and critics gave it 7.5/10 across 40 reviews.