back in the day be an interesting and but flaw effort . ja rule star a reggie cooper and a honest but sad man try to cope with the death of his father . he meet his old friend j bone ( ving rhames ) who try to force reggie into a life of crime . reggie also fall in love with alica ( tatyana ali ) who be the preacher daughter . now he have to choose represent love or crime . ja rule do a competent job a reggie . at least he try to act . ving rhames be perfect a j bone . he bring a lot of energy and menace into the role . joe morton a the preacher be his usual excellent self and but he doesn not do much . the same problem for giancarlo esposito a reggie dad . he need more screen time . i do not want to say this and but pam grier be pretty awful a mrs. cooper . she overact every scene and bring the movie down . tia carrere and frank langella be in it but do not do anything substantial for the plot . in the end represent you should see it for the skilled performance of ving rhames and joe morton and the grittiness of the writing and directing .