About this movie
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Crime, Drama
- Language:
- English
- Running time:
- 1:38:48
- Partner rating:
- Released:
- 2002
Cast & Crew
Cast
- Kymani Marley
-
Spragga Benz
Wayne
-
Paul Campbell
Mad Max
- Wyclef Jean
-
Louie Rankin
Teddy Bruk Shut
- J.R. Silvera
- Carlton Grant Jr.
-
Ky-mani Marley
Biggs
Directors
- Cess Silvera
Producers
- Cess Silvera
- Jennifer Farrell
- Fabien Pruvot
Writers
- Cess Silvera
Shottas
Grammy-nominated reggae artist Kymani Marley and Jamaican dancehall star Spragga Benz star in director Cess Silvera's tale of two Kingston gangsters looking to make a name for themselves on the mean streets of Kingston. Homegrown gangers Biggs (Marley) and Wayne (Benz) have paid their dues in Kingston, and now they've set their sights on a better life in Miami. After robbing a soda truck to gain the funds needed to make their way to the United States, however, their dreams quickly turn to dust when they are deported for hustling and sent back to Jamaica with nothing but the shirts on their backs. Biggs and Wayne aren't willing to kiss their ambitions goodbye quite so easily though, and thanks to a little compliance from the Kingston politicians, the pair soon begin extorting money from the local businesses. The heavies in the Kingston underworld are beginning to resent the pair's wildfire success though, and as the pressure mounts to end the rising tide of crime a local politician pays the ultimate price to arrange for the visas that will get Biggs and Wayne back to Florida. Upon returning to the states, the now-powerful duo finds that there is a high price to pay for power in a world where to trust equals death and success simply means having more enemies.
Reviews by Rotten Tomatoes
19%
percent positive reviews
-
John Anderson, NewsdayIt's tough to imagine how someone could make a movie about Jamaican gangsterism that's so devoid of political content, but that's hardly Silvestra's biggest problem.
– Full review
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Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger
Shottas has everything a bad music video should have -- close-ups of foreign sports cars, women with painful-looking implants stepping in and out of hot tubs, ugly men with gold teeth waving around...
– Full review
-
Neil Genzlinger, New York Times
Stars from reggae and other musical worlds give acting a try in Shottas, a witless, misogynistic, gratuitously violent, drug-culture-worshiping film.
-
Sheri Linden, Hollywood Reporter
Writer-director Cess Silvera delivers an empty, bullet-riddled exploitation combo of attitude and poses.
-
Evelyn McDonnell, Miami Herald
Unless you love senseless violence and gratuitous shots of fake breasts, you might want to listen with your eyes closed.
– Full review
-
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
Who says they don't write good women's roles anymore? The females on view fall into two prototypes: Hot Tub Chippie No. 2 or Plastic Surgery Fire Sale Victim No. 3.
– Full review
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