A soldier in the war to overturn apartheid, Vusi (Ice Cube) grew up fast,
smart and tough in a country torn apart by racial strife. When he was still
a young boy, he chose exile over death at the hands of the white police
and fled to America.
Twelve years later, Vusi is a westernized young man embarking on a career
as a drug counselor. He's kept in touch with his roots by getting a degree
in African literature. But suddenly, because of his father's death, is
thrust back into the world of his ancestry -- a world whose customs are
now alien to him. His middle brother Ernest (Sechaba Morajele) thinks Vusi
has a few things to learn about responsibility.
But Vusi's sense of family is strong, and when he learns that his youngest
brother, Steven (Eric Miyeni), is missing, he promises his mother that he
will locate him and bring him back.
Vusi leaves the peaceful beauty of the surrounding town to track his brother.
Before he begins his search, he is carjacked and almost killed. To his
shock, the thieves are black and anything but brotherly. This confrontation
sets the tone for the coming odyssey.
After checking into a luxury hotel, Vusi goes to his brother's apartment
in crime-ridden downtown Johannesburg. Steven is not there and his apartment
has been trashed.
However, Vusi learns that the next-door neighbor, a white dancer named Karin
(Elizabeth Hurley), was Steven's girlfriend. Karin offers to help Vusi find
his brother, and Vusi, who doesn't know his way around, reluctantly accepts
her assistance.
As they tour the late-night club scene looking for information, they have
a confrontation in a dark alley with disapproving skinheads, whom Vusi quickly
dispatches. Soon after, he has another violent encounter, this time with
a paranoid drug dealer. But during the melee, he catches a glimpse of Steven,
who flees when he recognizes his older brother. Then Vusi comes face-to-face
with Muki (Ving Rhames), a dangerous Nigerian drug lord whom Steven has
double-crossed. Muki tells Vusi he wants his money back, or Steven and
his entire family will be killed.
When Vusi and Karin catch up with Steven, he is strung-out and fearfully
running from Muki. Vusi settles Steven's debt, but the drug-lord needs
to show the underworld that he can't be double-crossed. He shoots Steven,
who dies in Vusi's arms.
Determined to avenge his brother's murder, Vusi enlists the help of his
brother Ernest. Together, they unearth a stash of guns hidden during the
country's civil war, and head for Muki's citadel where they settle their
grudge in a wild shoot-out.
Karin and Vusi have both been affected by Steven's death. She tells Vusi
of her desire to check into a rehabilitation program, but he advises her
to return with him and Ernest to the countryside where his family will help
her get back on her feet. As for Vusi, he calls his girlfriend in America
and asks her to join him. Having seen the great changes in South Africa,
and the problems they have brought with them, he knows he has his work cut
out for him. He is home to stay.
Copyright 1994-2008 Film Scouts LLC
Created, produced, and published by Film Scouts LLC
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