Rockers
There's more to this juicy morsel than just great music and fantastic humour. Real-life reggae star Leroy 'Horsemouth' Wallace buys a motorbike to kick-start his record selling business. But when it's stolen, a rambling quest begins in which Jamaican heavyweight musicians amble between spliffs to recover the item.
In what feels more like documentary than anything, there's a disarming ease in this film which is always engaging and fun to watch. It features a parade of local identities including Gregory Isaacs, Burning Spear's Winston Rodney, Robbie Shakespeare and a crew of many more who are obviously enjoying themselves in this random slice of life. Of special note here is the riotous scene in a record store which is so filled with 'business' from the extras that you can watch over and over and still not get it all.
Aided by the thick and ubiquitous smoke from the Island's own Cannabis Sativa (pot) that wafts through every scene, it's as if you were in the film yourself. Here, the actual mission in retrieving the bike often takes second place to other smoke-induced impulses and humbugging, which like a tropical breeze just blows here and there.
Whether our chum Horsemouth is in the bike saddle or not, it's a mighty loose ride and a classic of the genre.
"The most immediate offspring of the transcendent ain't-nothing-gonna-hold-me-down grit of The Harder They Come." San Francisco Chronicle
