Line #12 Film/PaidInFull


1	[[quoteright:338:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/51ecnptn1xl.jpg]]
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3	''Paid in Full'' is a 2002 crime drama film starring Creator/WoodHarris, Creator/MekhiPhifer and Music/CamRon. Based on the lives of real-life Harlem drug dealers Azie "AZ" Faison, Rich Porter, and Alpo Martinez (portrayed in the film as Ace, Mitch, and Rico, respectively), the film chronicles their rise and fall as cocaine dealers in Harlem during the 1980s.
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6	!!Tropes:
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8	* CaptainErsatz: Many of the characters’ names are slight spins on the names of the people they’re based on.
9	** Azie Faison: “Ace Boogie”
10	** Rich Porter: “Mitch”
11	** Alpo Martinez: “Rico”
12	* CoolCar: Every successful drug dealer in the film has one, whether it's a Porsche, BMW or Mercedes-Benz. Rico, in particular, loves motorcycles.
13	* DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster: Played straight with Mitch and Rico, who deliberately seek fame and glory, indulging heavily in flashy cars, clothes, and jewelry. Subverted with Ace, who prefers to keep a lower profile, and who at one point chides Rico for drawing too much attention with his antics.
14	* DiscOneFinalBoss: [[spoiler:Calvin, who gets off by the film's overall antagonist, Rico]].
15	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The introduction perfectly portrays each main character's personalities. Doubles as {{Foreshadowing}}. Ace is pretty quiet and mostly lets Mitch and Rico do the talking. When Mitch needs some money, he's more than happy to give it to him. Mitch is smug and flashy until he ends up taking a bet he flubs, and has to turn to Ace for money to recoup. Rico is being as obnoxious as possible and peer pressures Mitch into doing something he probably shouldn't, namely the trashketball bet, and is a bit aggressive about getting his money from Mitch. When he doesn't easily get it, he takes away all of Mitch's food.
16	* EtTuBrute: In order to pay Sonny's ransom, Mitch enlists Rico's help to quickly sell some cocaine. [[spoiler: Instead, Rico kills Mitch and [[GoldFever steals his money and drugs]].]]
17	** Sonny's kidnapping turns out to have been [[spoiler: orchestrated by his uncle Ice, who resented Mitch for not providing him any money and for kicking him out of his mother's apartment.]]
18	* FaceHeelTurn: In the beginning, neighborhood dealer Calvin is friendly to Ace, dating his sister, and giving him large tips at the dry cleaners. His arrest creates the opening for Ace to become a successful dealer and to repay the favour, Ace gives Calvin some territory upon his release. However, Calvin quickly grows dissatisfied with starting so low on the ladder and decides to strike out on his own again. [[spoiler: It's later revealed that it's he and an accomplice who dragged Ace into the apartment in the film's opening in order to rob him.]]
19	** Rico also qualifies as someone willing to work with Ace and Mitch, [[spoiler: but who kills Mitch to keep all the money from the sale Mitch was using to raise Sonny's ransom.]]
20	* GanglandDriveby: Rico kills [[spoiler: Calvin]] in this way, in retaliation for [[spoiler: Calvin shooting Ace.]]
21	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Ace gets revenge on Rico by giving him the "out of town connects", [[spoiler: who turn out to be the undercover cops that tried to entrap Ace earlier in the film, thus using Rico's own greed against him.]]
22	* HowWeGotHere: The film opens with Ace opening the door to an apartment, only to be violently dragged inside. The first two acts of the film are what leads up to that point.
23	* IHaveYourWife: Near the end of the film, Mitch's kid brother Sonny is kidnapped for ransom.
24	* JustAGangster: [[spoiler: While recovering from being shot,]] Ace decides to leave the drug game. Mitch, on the other hand, chooses to stay because, in his words, "I love the game".
25	* RevealingInjury: [[spoiler: After Mitch's death]], Ace is talking to Rico when he notices an injury on Rico's face. Rico claims that he got it from rough sex. [[spoiler: He also lies about not having seen Mitch, even though Mitch told Ace that he was meeting Rico to raise the ransom money, which allows Ace to conclude that Rico killed Mitch.]]
26	* ShamefulStrip: A rare instance of a male example. Near the end of the movie, Rico does this to a customer who makes a remark about Ace getting shot and even references Calvin (who Rico doesn't like). He pulls the man out of his car, beats him up, takes his clothes and shoes, and forces him to run up the street in his boxers and socks.
27	* TheStoolPigeon: Rico becomes a Betrayer Barry when he's arrested by the undercover FBI agents that were originally trying to catch Ace. He agrees to "snitch" on his "connects" (drug dealing connections), but refuses to give up anyone in Harlem in the hopes that he'll reclaim his position when he's released.
28	* WouldHurtAChild: To show they're serious, Sonny's kidnappers cut off one of his fingers and send it to Mitch. And when they don't get the ransom they were promised [[spoiler: (on account of Mitch's death), they kill Sonny.]]

Context Film / PaidInFull