Street Smart sounds like it could be a silly thriller -- reporter racing some imaginary clock to figure out a way to deal with the pimp without blowing his story. The film is an effort by the Cannon group, the production company notorious for some of the 1980s' biggest B-action movies. Instead, it's a more complex story about two men caught up in their own situations, and the unusual confluence of events that brings them together. The box copy pitches the movie as a battle between Fisher and Fast Black, but most of the film follows their unusual working agreement, in which both men agree not to blow the other one's cover, hopefully to everyone's benefit.

On one end of the screen is Morgan Freeman, long before he would become the voice of a thousand nature documentaries and viral videos. Here, he's young and deeply menacing as the volatile Black, who takes a certain pride in toying with people's emotions. On the basketball courts, he gets a player up against the wall for getting in his way, only to give him some money and place a lunch order. When he thinks one of his girls might be stealing from him, he smashes a bottle on the dashboard of his car and shoves it into her neck, before shoving it into Jonathan's as well. Creepiest of all, an extended sequence where he points a pair of scissors into someone's eyeball ends with him laughing cruelly, a pure power play to screw with his opponent's head. Freeman has had roles with far more complexity and nuance than this, but he gives it his all, giving Fast Black a presence that looms over the film even when he's not around.

On the other side is Christopher Reeve, playing a good guy who quickly becomes swallowed up by a taste of bigger and better things, oblivious to the way his actions continually strand him farther up a creek without a paddle. Jonathan's wife, Alison (Mimi Rogers) asks him how he feels about having made the article up, but neither of them seem too worried about it from a moral standpoint. However, Jonathan is offered a job doing TV news reports, and gets close to Punchy (Kathy Baker), one of the women he meets back before he gives up trying to meet a real pimp. Reeve, whose all-American Boy Scout charm suited him for Superman, imbues his descent into adultery with a certain "who, me?" innocence that is fascinating. Baker is also great in the movie, finding an authenticity in her part in terms of why she does what she does and how she feels about it, and all from a role other scripts might not have included past her first scene. She's such a colorful character and Alison is such a nobody that it's almost hard to blame Jonathan for looking elsewhere, yet the ease and satisfaction with which he does it underlines his callousness.

Although Fast Black's legal entanglement provides the engine that drives the film -- in particular, people looking to get their hands on Jonathan's non-existent notes -- the film remains character-driven throughout, as Jonathan and Fast Black's relationship starts to waver. Black wants Jonathan to absolve him of the murder by placing him in an interview session for the piece at the time of the killing. Meanwhile, Jonathan faces jail time for continuing to protect his subject. If there's anything wrong with the film, it's that the script only touches on a number of interesting subjects and ideas without having the time to explore them. Would Street Smart be a more entertaining movie if it delved deeper into Jonathan's moral and ethical dilemma? Probably not, and it's hard to criticize the emphasis on character, especially with Reeve, Baker, and Freeman all giving excellent performances. Yet, when Jonathan does finally devise what he believes is a way to solve his problems, the movie ends without any exploration of what that choice really means for Jonathan.

The Blu-ray
Street Smart gets a Blu-ray cover that is sort of adapted from one of the movie's theatrical posters, featuring Freeman pressing a revolver into Reeve's cheek. For very little obvious reason, this image has been framed inside a painted X -- you'd think some visual reference to a magazine or jail would've been better (which the back includes as a backdrop, but the front cover does not), or perhaps just displaying the image in full, but I guess it's eye-catching and is executed nicely. The single-disc release comes in a boxy Infiniti Blu-ray case, with a postcard inside for those who want Olive's catalog.

The Video and Audio
Presented in 1.85:1 1080p AVC, Street Smart looks pretty impressive on Blu-ray. There is some softness to the image, but overall, detail is clearly in the HD range, and colors are very pleasing and natural. Very little print damage is visible, and depth and dimension are good. Black levels seem nicely balanced, and a fine layer of film grain is noticeable. Very strong, across the board.

Sound is a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track that sounds about as good as the picture. Dialogue is crisp and well-defined, music has an impressive vibrancy to it, and while this is only a stereo mix, it has a solid sense of depth in some of the cramped apartments and dingy motel rooms the movie takes place in. Sadly, no subtitles or captions are included on the disc.

The Extras
None, not even a trailer.

Conclusion
Street Smart has enough ideas, performances, and twists and turns to be considered a minor gem. It's only a shame that screenwriter David Freeman couldn't have figured out one more level to the picture, which could have brought the film up from "solid drama" to "great movie." Recommended.