Blue Hill Avenue is a 2001 crime film

Crime film

Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...

 directed and written by Craig Ross, Jr.

Craig Ross, Jr.

-Career:Ross was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He then moved with his father to the San Francisco Bay area at an early age. After graduating high school, he went back to the east coast to attend film school at New York University. After graduating he moved back to Los Angeles where he formed his...

, and starring Allen Payne. Ross Jr. also edited and executive produced the film.

Plot

Four friends—Tristan (the leader), Simon (the right hand man),E-Bone (the hot head) and Money (the mediator)--are street smart kids growing up in the tough Mattapan section of Boston in the 1980s. Starting out as small-time dope dealers on Blue Hill Avenue in Mattapan Square, they eventually go to work for Benny, a major player in the Boston crime scene. As the four friends grow up and become the biggest dealers in the city, things become increasingly heated: Tristan's wife wants him to leave the business because she's pregnant, Tristan finds out his sister is hooked on drugs and is alienated from his family, Simon becomes obsessed with a near-death experience and expects to die, cops dog their tracks trying every trick in and out of the book to catch them, and Benny, their main supplier, wants them out of the business for good. Worse, it becomes clear one of the four is trying to sell the others out to the cops. In the end, Tristan faces Benny down, after losing his friends, and is able to get out of the business—and the life—for good.

Cast

• Allen Payne - Tristan
• Angelle Brooks
  Angelle Brooks
  Angelle Brooks is an American film, television and voice actress. She is perhaps best known for her co-starring role as Maxine de la Cruz in the series V.I.P. as well as her recurring roles as Holly Brooks on Malcolm & Eddie and as Toni Ross on The Parkers.Since the mid 1990s, Brooks has guest...
  
   - Martine
• Michael Taliferro
  Michael Taliferro
  Michael Taliferro was an American film and television actor, sportsman and singer.-Personal life:Taliferro was born in Brooksville, Florida. He has an older brother, James Waldon Taliferro and two sisters, Olga and Cheryl Taliferro. Taliferro attended Texas Christian University. Taliferro never...
  
   - Simon
• William L. Johnson
  William L. Johnson
  William L. Johnson is an accomplished American actor and musician.William L. Johnson has held starring and prominent roles in many theatrically released projects. His performance as a lead in director Craig Ross' Blue Hill Avenue helped the movie garner top honors at the Acapulco and Black...
  
   - E. Bone
• Aaron D. Spears
  Aaron D. Spears
  Aaron Darnell Spears is an African American actor.He currently portrays Justin Barber on the American soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. His previous television credits include guest roles on Bones, Criminal Minds and Shark.-Reference:*...
  
   - Money
• Andrew Divoff
  Andrew Divoff
  Andrew Daniel Divoff is a Venezuelan film and television actor, best known for playing the evil Djinn in the two first Wishmaster films and the villains Cherry Ganz in Another 48 Hrs., Boris Bazylev in Air Force One, Ivan Sarnoff in CSI: Miami and Mikhail Bakunin in Lost.- Early life :Divoff was...
  
   - Detective Tyler
• Richard Lawson - Uncle Rob
• Marlon Young - Twinkie
• Dee Freeman - Violet
• Gail Fulton Ross - Hazel
• Veronica Redd
  Veronica Redd
  Veronica Redd is an American actress who played the recurring character of Mamie Johnson on The Young and the Restless. She is the second actress to play the role, having taken over from Marguerite Ray. Redd played the role from 1990 to 1995, and again from 1999 to 2004.-Filmography:*Blue Hill...
  
   - Nana
• Anthony Sherwood
  Anthony Sherwood
  Anthony Sherwood is an award-winning Canadian actor, producer and director.-Biography:Sherwood's mother was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia and his father was born in Kingston, Jamaica. Anthony’s mother was a fifth generation Canadian whose ancestors escaped to Canada using the "underground railroad"...
  
   - Melvin
• MyQuan Jackson - Wren
• Latamra Smith - Nicole
• Brandon Hammond
  Brandon Hammond
  Brandon Hammond is an American former child actor who appeared in a string of high profile projects in the 1990s.Hammond's first film role was in Menace II Society where he played the younger version of the main character Caine...
  
   - Young E. Bone
• W.B. Alexander - Young Tristan
• Percy Daggs III
  Percy Daggs III
  Percy Daggs III is an American actor best known for his role as Wallace Fennel in the Rob Thomas television series Veronica Mars. He is also known for starring in television commercials for Hot Pockets and Orbit Gum...
  
   - Young Money
• Dana Bair - Young Simon
• Clarence Williams III
  Clarence Williams III
  Clarence Williams III is an American actor.-Early life:Williams was born in New York City. His grandfather was Clarence Williams, the jazz pianist and composer. He was raised by his grandmother.-Career:...
  
   - Benny
• William Forsythe
  William Forsythe (actor)
  William Forsythe is an American actor, known for playing "tough guy" roles. He is also a writer, and has several short stories that are set to be published.-Early life:...
  
   - Detective Torrance
• Diane Fauteux - Young Martine
• William K. Butler - Big Time
• Chris Thornton - Lathan
• William Springfield - Soul Train
• Pooch Hall
  Pooch Hall
  Marion H. "Pooch" Hall, Jr. is an American television and film actor from Taunton, Massachusetts. He is perhaps best known for his role as professional football player Derwin Davis on the BET comedy-drama series The Game....
  
   - Billy 'Schlep Rock' Brown
• Martin Roach
  Martin Roach
  Martin Jamie Roach is a Canadian actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles on Aaron Stone as T. Abner Hall and in the films Cube Zero, Diary of the Dead, and The Lookout.-Filmography:* Producing Parker as Dr...
  
   - Uncle Pee Wee
• David Julian Hirsh
  David Julian Hirsh
  David Julian Hirsh stars on the TV series Hawthorne on TNT. He is an actor best known to Canadian audiences for starring in shows such as Naked Josh on Oxygen/Showcase, the American version of Un Gars et une Fille - called Lovebites , and the adaptation of Mordecai Richler's iconic novel St...
  
   - Lloyd
• Anthony Nuncio - Jack Escobar
• Nicole McLean - Monica Dahl
• Kenny Robinson
  Kenny Robinson (comedian)
  Kenny Robinson is a stand-up comic, actor, and occasional DJ. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, he moved to Toronto in 1983 to pursue a career as a comedian.In 1998 he was chosen by Now Magazine as their Comic of the Year....
  
   - Sam

Awards & nominations

2001 Acapulco Black Film Festival

American Black Film Festival

The American Black Film Festival is an independent film festival that focuses primarily on works by Black members of the film industry. It has been called “the nation’s most prominent film festival.” The festival is held annually and features full-length narratives, short films, mobile...

• Best U.S. Film — Blue Hill Avenue, Craig Ross Jr. (winner)

2002 Black Reel Awards

Black Reel Awards of 2002

Here are the nominees and winners of the 2002 Black Reel Awards....

• Best Independent Actor (Theatrical) — Allen Payne (winner)
• Best Independent Film (Theatrical) — (nominated)

2001 Urbanworld Film Festival

• Best Director — Craig Ross Jr. (winner)
• Best Human On Earth — Dylon Ta-Fari Bennett (Theatrical) — (winner)