Jimmy Cliff Movies

On Saturday, November 29, 2003 at the Green Point Stadium in South Africa, a concert was held that featured over 30 artists banding together to present a wake-up call to the world in the name of Nelson Mandela's prison number to raise awareness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Contributing artists include Beyonce Knowles, Queen, Paul Oakenfold and Jimmy Cliff performing in front of a live audience of over 40,000 and broadcast to over 2 billion people worldwide. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

The first feature-length Canadian drama to be created by an all-black team of filmmakers, this inner city film from writer-director Clement Virgo tracks the lives and struggles of several urban minorities during one Easter weekend. As the pirate radio disc jockey known as Rude (Sharon M. Lewis) broadcasts throughout a Toronto project, an artist named General (Maurice Dean Witt) arrives at the home of his wife Jessica (Melanie Nicholls-King) after serving several years in jail for drug dealing. He's there to reconcile with Jessica, who is now a police officer, and with the ten-year-old son, Johnny (Ashley Brown), whom he didn't help raise. Impeding his progress is General's brother Reece (Clark Johnson), who covets his brother's wife and still works for the neighborhood's racist white drug lord Yankee (Stephen Shellen) -- who in turn wants General back in charge of the drug trade. Meanwhile, the young boxer Jordan (Richard Chevolleau) reluctantly accompanies his fellow athletes on a testosterone-fueled gay-bashing spree, even though he is beginning to believe that he may be homosexual. As all of this is happening, the heart-broken window dresser Maxine (Rachel Crawford) faces the dissolution of her relationship with her boyfriend after she has an abortion. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Robin Williams' comic shtick sabotages any attempt at comic development in Harold Ramis' patchy comedy farce Club Paradise. Williams plays Jack Moniker, a Chicago fireman injured in the line of duty, who uses his disability money to open up a run-down Caribbean resort. Jack eagerly awaits the planeload of tourists who will be his first patrons. This group of low-rent jackanapes include Barry Nye (Rick Moranis) and Barry Steinberg (Eugene Levy), a couple of horny geek bachelors; Phillipa Lloyd (Twiggy) and Terry Hamlin (Joanna Cassidy) as a couple of gals on the make; and Linda White (Andrea Martin), as a bossy American tourist. While the tourists shindig around Jack's ramshackle resort, a revolution is brewing on the island headed by revolutionary Ernest Reed (Jimmy Cliff). Trying to prevent the revolutionary upheaval is the dissipated British governor-general of the island, Governor Anthony Cloyden Hayes (Peter O'Toole), and the pompous Prime Minister Solomon Gundy (Adolph Caesar). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Jimmy Cliff's bongos and reggae music are featured in this 90-minute documentary recording performances not only in Jamaica, but also in South Africa and West Germany. The musician is interviewed and followed as he talks with his friends and neighbors and works in his Kingston studio. Featured numbers include "The Harder They Come," "Hard Road to Travel," and "Many Rivers to Cross." ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

From the Beats of the Heart documentary series, originally aired on public television, comes Roots, Rock Reggae: Inside the Jamaican Music Scene. This film offers a street-level look at the culture birthing reggae and features vintage performances by some of the genre's leading artists, as well as personal interviews and studio scenes. Viewers travel from Jamaica's Trenchtown ghetto to the serene hills of Kingston where followers of Rastafari drum and sing hymns. Rasta forms the base of reggae music, which developed from elements of American rock and blues, Caribbean musical styles, folk music, Pocomania church music, Jonkanoo fife and drum bands, fertility rituals, plantation work songs and other musical forms. Musicians appearing in this video include Jimmy Cliff, Bob Marley, Toots and The Maytals, Jacob Miller & Inner Circle, The Abysinnians, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Ras Michael & Sons of Negus, and Joe Higgs. Beats of the Heart is comprised of 15 volumes including, Chase the Devil: Religious Music of the Appalachians, Salsa: Latin Pop Music in the Cities, There'll Always be Stars in the Sky: Indian Film Music and others. ~ Sally Barber, All Movie Guide

Reggae star Jimmy Cliff is the principal reason that The Harder They Come was one of the first truly successful films to come out of Jamaica. Cliff plays Ivan, a young would-be singer who finds the going rough when he hits the big city of Kingston. Jailed for participating in a knife fight, Ivan is exploited by a dishonest record-company executive upon his release. Turning his back on the establishment, Ivan becomes involved in the marijuana trade. He keeps the police at arm's length by offering them a slice of the action, but ultimately finds himself in the middle of a bloody raid. Ivan kills several cops and escapes, whereupon the duplicitous record exec releases Ivan's single "The Harder They Come," elevating the fugitive to the status of folk hero. The Harder They Come utilizes a take-no-prisoners approach to its material and presents an unadorned view of the seamier side of Jamaica life. The film resulted in an incredible upsurge in the popularity of reggae music in America; among the highlights in its hit-after-hit score are "You Can Really Get It If You Want It," "Sitting in Limbo," "Johnny Too Bad," and the title song. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide