Poetic Justice

Poetic Justice is a romantic drama set in South Central Los Angeles. Justice, a hairdresser, has withdrawn from the world after witnessing her boyfriend's murder; she writes poetry to cope with the loss and keeps her distance from the friends who urge her to move on. When her car breaks down and she cannot reach a convention in Oakland on her own, she accepts a ride from her friend Iesha and Iesha's boyfriend Chicago, a postal worker. Chicago's co-worker Lucky, a young father, joins them. He and Justice clash at first, but their arguments gradually give way to a connection neither expected, leaving Justice to decide whether she is willing to open herself to someone again.

John Singleton wrote, directed and produced the film, his second feature after Boyz n the Hood. Janet Jackson plays Justice and Tupac Shakur plays Lucky, with Regina King as Iesha, Joe Torry as Chicago, Roger Guenveur Smith as Heywood and Maya Angelou as Aunt June; the credited cast runs to 68 names.

Made for about 14 million dollars, the film took roughly 28 million worldwide. On TMDB it holds a 6.7 rating from 298 votes, while critics' reviews average 5 out of 10 across 32 notices, so audiences rated it somewhat higher than reviewers did.