Turn it Up

Our hero, an aspiring rap star named Diamond, loses his mother. At her funeral, his estranged father returns after abandoning him 12 years earlier, but eventually he dies, too. His girlfriend tells him she's pregnant. The owner of the studio where he records his music is raising his rates.

Oh, yeah, and he gets involved in a number of botched drug deals and shootouts, despite his yearning to escape his former life in the Brooklyn projects.

But Prakazrel "Pras" Michel of the hip-hop band The Fugees, who plays Diamond, reacts to all these tumultuous events with the same indifferent expression and monotone line delivery.

His performance isn't the movie's only problem. No, no, no, far from it.

Let's start with the title. At one point in the life of this film, it was called "Ghetto Supastar," which is certainly a lot more intriguing. "Turn It Up" could easily be confused with the cheerleader comedy "Bring It On." Imagine a 13-year-old girl making that mistake at the multiplex!

Then there is the character development — or lack thereof. Writer-director Robert Adetuyi, in his debut effort, tells us so little about Diamond that it's hard to care when bad things happen to him.

Supporting characters are nothing more than cardboard cutouts. There's no explanation why the main villain, an Australian drug dealer known as Mr. B, is evil incarnate. Other bad guys are stereotypes, with slick clothes, thick gold chains, heavy foreign accents and garden-variety scowls.

There are a few interesting moments when Diamond and his father (Vondie Curtis-Hall), a pianist, get reacquainted by sharing their music. The movie would have had much more depth and emotional impact (or any, for that matter) had it focused more on this dynamic and other musical aspects.

Instead, Adetuyi relies too easily on drug deals and gun battles. Anyone could do that.

The movie's big climax scene is nothing more than a generic shootout, which conveniently takes place inside the recording studio because it looks and sounds cool when the bullets shatter the glass.

Surprisingly, for a movie about music, the sound is lousy. Some of the songs sound distorted because they have so much bass. In other moments, the dialogue is so low, it's hard to understand what the characters are saying.

Hall does the best he can as Diamond's father, bringing wisdom and warmth to his role.

Tamala Jones is also a sporadic bright spot as Diamond's pregnant girlfriend who doesn't completely trust him but wants to start a family. It's impossible to understand why she stays with him, though. She — and all the other women in this movie — are treated as property, verbally abused and neglected.

Pras should stick to rapping, because acting apparently is not his forte. The scenes in which he's performing onstage or in the recording studio are the only ones that are interesting on any level.

"Turn It Up" is rated R for strong language and violence and some drug content. Running time: 87 minutes. Motion Picture Association of America rating definitions:

G—General audiences. All ages admitted.

PG— Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

PG-13— Special parental guidance strongly suggested for children under 13. Some material may be inappropriate for young children.

R— Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

NC-17— No one under 17 admitted.