Ever wonder what happens in a crime infested neighborhood? Or, better yet, how an average substance abuser goes through the day? In the movie, "On the Outs," there are all kinds of mishaps that take place. As an average movie, you will probably look for a good old fashioned ending. But "On the outs" will definitely leave the ending up to you. It's unpredictable and catches your attention straight from the beginning.

-- Arthur Sanders

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Movie Review: “On the Outs”

By Arthur Sanders

I never really watched a movie that didn’t have a great ending, or reminded me of my life. A couple of days ago, I got the chance to see a great movie which was called “On the Outs.” The movie basically was about a trio of teenage girls from New Jersey. The teenage girls went in and out of trouble. It was like I was actually there with the teenage girls. That’s how realistic the movie seemed to me. “On The Outs” isn’t your average movie. The movie took me from watching how a substance abuser lives their life to seeing how a drug dealer functions throughout the day.

The movie also showed scenes in which the girls featured in the movie were being held in prison for three different crimes. One girl was charged with possession of a fire arm, the next girl was being charged with having illegal drugs on her, and the last girl was being charged with distribution. Viewers also got the chance to see how the girls carried on with their lives after prison. You would think the girls got the message from spending time in jail, but that’s only for fairy tales. All of the girls went back to where they left off prior to being arrested.

Sometimes when a person has every intention of starting a new life, better than their old one, it can be kind of hard. From my point of view, drugs can be very powerful at times. For example, one of the teenage girls that was locked up for having illegal drugs on her, also had a daughter. While she was in jail, her daughter got taken by the state for better care. In the process, the mother was supposed to stay clean of drugs for at least a year. Being that she was so addicted to drugs, stopping became the hardest thing for her to do. Drugs proved to be more important then her daughter.

Toward the end of the movie, the brother of one of the girls passes away. On top of that, her mother, who was supposed to have checked herself into a rehab, decided she wasn’t going to anymore. I guess due to all these mishaps, the teenage girl just got tired of drugs and throws all her drugs into the ocean – drugs she would otherwise have sold to other people like herself.

“On the Outs” is a great movie. It kept me on the edge of my sit and I’m sure it will do the same for you.

-Arthur Sanders

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"On The Outs" of Jersey City Streets

By Taryn McLean

"On The Outs," directed by Micheal Skolnik, is a movie portrayed in real terms. There's no Cinderella ending. These teenage girls were what you can call “products of their environment.” Raised on the drug-infested streets of Jersey City, N.J., Oz, Suzette and Marisol were put in the same predicaments many young girls of our society face today. Oz came from a broken family. She and her younger mentally ill brother (Chewy) were raised by their grandmother. Since there was no father figure and their mother had a bad drug habit, Oz got caught up in the streets, going in and out of juvenile detention centers. She later learned to leave the streets alone after her mental breakdown from her brother's fatal asthma attack and her mother's refusal to go to drug rehab.

Suzette is the typical teenager who went to high school and is into boys. Like the saying goes, “moms always know best.” Suzette opposes this saying. She is involved with a much older guy who is a drug dealer and is somewhat manipulating her. Refusing to listen to her mother and break it off with Terrell, she later finds herself locked up in a detention center, facing a gun charge because she did Terrell a favor and held his gun which he previously used to shoot and kill a "stickup kid." To top it off, she becomes pregnant with his baby. When she is released and put on house arrest, she stubbornly leaves the house to look for Terrell. This results in Suzette getting locked up again for violating house arrest. Finally, she realizes all along that her mom was right, Terrell wasn't the guy she thought he was.

Marisol, meanwhile, is a crack-addicted teenage mother who doesn’t care about her life or that of her daughter. Along with the other two girls – who Marisol meets in the detention center – she is locked up for drug abuse. Marisol never learns her lesson, even after being locked up, having her daughter put in a foster home and seeing her grandmother put in the Intensive Care Unit after suffering a stroke. When she is released from detention, Marisol’s cravings for crack kick in again, and she goes in pursuit of the drug.

Micheal Skolnik did a great job of depicting the daily struggles of some young women of color. He showed that everyone’s life doesn't always have a happy ending and how lucky some kids are to have supportive families.

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On the Outs is in the Real World

By Michelle Yakobson

On the Outs is a striking film portraying the lives of three Jersey City girls who fall victim to drugs, unprotected sex, and some pretty bad life decisions. Directed by Michael Skolnik and Lori Silverbush, On the Outs uses local, on-the-street filming to capture the raw reality of life in a poor and coke-infested neighborhood. Despite an occasional cheesy scene or two, Skolnik’s film is biting and unembellished— a pleasant break from mislabeled depictions of drama in urban slums.

Co-Creator/Actress Paola Mendoza, along with co-stars Judy Marte and Anny Mariano, play three young women named Marisol, Oz, and Suzette, respectively. Marisol is a crack-cocaine addict, whose sickly great-aunt watches over Marisol’s young toddler while Marisol walks around the streets in search of a fix. When Marisol gets put in prison one time too many, a social worker takes her daughter, Autumn, away from her and explains that Autumn’s only options are temporary foster care or permanent adoption. Oz’s role in the drug world are somewhat different. She is a street corner drug dealer, whose experiences in jail finally help her realize the suffering she and her cellmates inflict upon their loved ones. Her doped-up mother almost joins a support group, but falls back to her dope when her mentally ill son passes away from an asthma attack. Finally, Suzette is a 15-year-old who becomes easily charmed by a local drug dealer. Pregnant and desperate, Suzette runs away and ends up under house arrest upon her return. Her desperation to see her “boyfriend” puts her in jail for the second time. The movie ends with all of these women’s stories unresolved and unexplained.

The movie itself is decently acted, though there are several unconvincing moments. Because the language is so stereotypical, there is a slight sense of Silverbush trying too hard to make her point—after all, it could not be clearer that this film is about life on the streets and its hardships. In that sense, however, the fact that this film was actually shot entirely on the streets and not in some random Hollywood set adds to the realism and authenticity of the film. In addition, the sparse use of makeup on the actors takes away the glitzy, airbrushed quality of so many contemporary films. Overall, On the Outs is worth the few dollars, which will ultimately go toward the financing of more realistic movies about real, living and breathing people.

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ON THE OUTS a story of the society

By Atanu Roy

Three young girls from the same neighborhood of Jersey City meets together at the juvenile jail, but didn’t know that they are the victim of the same society, where drugs, sex, gunshot and death are the parts of the lives. The movie ON THE OUTS shows how these girls struggle with the hills and valleys of their lives but turns into frustration again and again.

The three central characters of the movies are Oz (Judy Marte), Marisol (Paola Mendoza) and Suzette (Anny Mariano). Oz is a 17- years-old drug dealer who owns her corner of the street, as well as the respect of her followers, although she is a girl. Her mother had a record of taking drugs, which resulted the mental deficiency and asthma of her brother. But Oz tries to support her brother and keep her family together; despite of the cold behavior she gets from her mother and grandmother. Often she has to go to the juvenile jail, where her frequent presence established a status for her. At the end her brother dies and that affects the family members differently, her mother starts taking drugs again, but Oz decides to give up drug dealing.

Another character Marisol, a teenaged single mother, fights her way to deal with her drug addiction and maintain her family. Her dependence on drugs is so strong that she had to give away the food she bought with her last quarters for her child in change of drugs. Her going to the juvenile put her child Autumn (Autumn Collier) in foster care and Marisol cannot take the custody of her child until the court is satisfied with her life style. She becomes frustrated when she comes to know that no matter how hard she tries, she cannot have her child back within several years and she went back to drugs.

Suzette, 15, on the other hand, came from a family with love and care. But her teenage crush on a drug dealer led her first to an unexpected pregnancy, then run-away from home with him, experiencing a life of uncertainty and at last in the juvenile for carrying her boyfriend’s gun. She came home, but was locked at home by a devise fixed in her leg. But her hope about her boyfriend did dye yet. She cut off the device and went to look for him, only to find him having sex with others in change of drugs. She came back and hand herself over to the juvenile.

The story of these girls is one of the most common, but neglected scenes of our society. Director Michael Skolnik and his colleague Lori Silverbush with the co-creator Paola Mendoza (who also played the role of Marisol in the movie) tried to reveal this situation in front of our eyes. The life story of these inner-city girls makes an appeal to the viewers to think about these problems, to prevent these abuses and to ensure the safety of the future generation.

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Looking in at On The Outs

By Rachel Sanchez

I had my doubts about the movie On The Outs. I was terribly afraid that it was going to be another story about a “good girl gone crazy” (or in this case, three good girls gone crazy). However, I realized just minutes into the movie that I would be proven wrong. Immediately, I was sucked into the rough streets of Jersey City as we were introduced to three unforgettable characters.

The film begins with Suzette (Anny Mariano), a 15-year-old girl who falls in love with and eventually gets pregnant by Tyrell, a drug dealer. Suzette runs away after her mother wants her to get an abortion and goes to live with Tyrell. One day, Tyrell accidentally shoots a young boy and leaves Suzette literally holding the gun. She is caught by the police and taken to jail for possession of a weapon. Suzette eventually gets released, but is required to wear a monitoring device at all times that would alert the police whenever Suzette went out without permission. The streets are still a temptation and Suzette goes out to look for Tyrell, ripping off her monitoring device. The police catch her and Suzette is sent to jail again for a second time.

Marisol (Paola Mendoza) is a single mother who seems to love her young daughter, Autumn, very much. Yet, Marisol is a drug addict who is always looking for more drugs to get high on. One of the saddest scenes in the movie happens when Marisol gets some rice and beans for Autumn to eat. As Marisol is coming out of the restaurant, she spots drug dealers and tragically trades her daughter’s food for more drugs. She is so distraught by what she did that she gets hit by a car. Although she is alright, the police at the scene of the accident notice that Marisol is high and take her to jail. While in prison, Marisol learns that her daughter has been taken away and placed into foster care. The only way to get Autumn back is to stay off drugs for a long period of time. Marisol desperately tries to stop, but becomes so stressed by her situation that she ends up using drugs again.

Oz (Judy Marte) is a 17-year-old drug dealer who is released from jail. She gives the impression that she is a very tough, in-your-face person. However, we quickly see her soft side when she is around her mentally ill brother, Chuey. Most of the poignant scenes in the film are built around the loving and tender relationship between Oz and Chuey. Oz tries to handle a mother addicted to drugs, her brother and drug dealing all at the same time. And just like the other girls, Oz gets caught by the police while struggling to survive and is sent to prison. There, she encounters Suzette and Marisol.

The real climax of the entire movie happens after Oz comes out of prison and spends some time with Chuey on the streets. Oz sticks up for her brother during a street brawl and makes Chuey run home. All the action has caused Chuey to have a severe asthma attack without his pump ready at hand. During this heart wrenching scene, we hear Chuey gasping for air and then suddenly stop. We see darkness until Oz runs in to find her beloved brother dead. After this dramatic turning point, Oz begins to reevaluate herself. The final scene of the movie shows Oz looking at a sunrise over the New York City skyline. She reaches into her pocket and throws away her bags of drugs, symbolically burying her tragic past lifestyle. But whatever happens to these three girls is completely up to us; the ending leaves plenty of room for discussion.

Overall, the movie is beautifully shot and directed. With little music and real footage of the Jersey City streets and people, the film could easily pass as a documentary. What made this movie even more extraordinary is that it’s wretchedly real. Directors Lori Silverbush and Michael Skolnik spent time with teenagers in prison and on the streets, getting their life stories and weaving them together to create On The Outs. Each teen they talked to believed she or he had nothing to offer. But Skolnik believes that everybody has a unique story to tell and making a movie like this one helps share those exceptional stories.

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A Classic Story

By: Kristen Wallace

On the Outs, directed by Lori Silverbush and Michael Skolnik, is an independent film that depicts the life of three troubled teenage girls who live in the ghetto of Jersey City.

The girls, Suzette, Marisol, and Oz, live what some may call the typical ghetto life. Suzette is impregnated by a drug dealer and then runs away from home to be with him. Marisol is a teenage mother with a nasty cocaine habit. Oz is a drug dealer who is repeatedly incarcerated. Throughout the film, the girls suffer life altering and devastating experiences that either guide them to a new path where their old lifestyle is no longer appealing or lead them back to their old habits.

The directors do not want you to experience just one emotion when watching this film. There are scenes during the film when the audience sympathizes with the characters, scenes when the audience laughs, and scenes when the audience may want to throw something at the movie screen in anger or disappointment.

“I feel that sometimes [when we watch films] we are bullshitted or fed on a silver spoon on how we’re supposed to feel” said Skolnik.

To make the stories of the three girls more authentic, the directors talked to incarcerated teens from the Hudson County Detention Center. They asked the girls of Hudson County to tell their life stories growing up in Jersey City. They then adapted their stories to the film. In fact, On the Outs is so authentic that all three main characters (and some of the supporting actors) actually exist and the whole movie was shot in Jersey City.

Unlike other films where there seems to be an underlying moral, On the Outs simply wants to tell the story of three inner city girls.

“All my films are about people who don’t get the chance to tell their own story,” said Skolnik. “This story’s a classic story…”
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Girls gone wild
By: Stephanie Sanchez

On the outs directed by Lori Silverbush and Michael Skolnik is a dramatic narrative based on the actual stories of three girls from the streets. Suzette (Anny Mariano), Marisol (Paola Mendoza), and Oz (Judy Marte), all come from the mean streets of Jersey City and at one point all of their paths cross when they all wind up in a juvenile penitentiary. Watching these girls in “juvie” you would probably consider them all the same, but they all have incredible stories you would never even think of.

The film introduces the character of Suzette first. Suzette, while at first portrayed as the innocent, sheltered, 15-year-old, is soon lured into a life of drug dealing and crime by her older boyfriend, Terrell. Once Suzette finds out that she is pregnant with Terrell’s child, she runs away from home and is forced to jump from house to house with her boyfriend and unborn child. When Suzette is told by Terrell to hold a gun for him, it is then that she is “busted” for gun possession, ending up in her being sent straight to “juvie.”

There is where she encounters Oz and Marisol. Oz is a strong, respected, drug dealer on her street corner. Oz becomes a regular in juvie and gains a strong reputation. But drugs are not the only thing that Oz deals. She must also deal with a mentally retarded brother, a crackhead mother, and christian grandmother who has something to say about everything. Oz tries hard to keep her hustle flowing and keep her family together, but both seem to repeatedly fail her and juvie becomes her second home.

Marisol is the next victim of the streets who is introduced to the audience. At first glance, Marisol seems a loving mother to her young daughter, singing her songs and playing in the playground with her. However once Marisol knows that her daughter is safe with her aunt, she goes on a mission to get high. Marisol begs drug dealers regularly to get her daily hits, and at one point stoops to more degrading levels to get her hits. However, getting sent to juvie gives Marisol an immediate wake-up call, especially when she finds out that her daughter may be sent away to foster care, or even worse, adoption.

Silverbush and Skolnik do an excellent job of portraying the true feelings and emotions of these distressed young girls. The film has the look and feel of a documentary, just with a narrative. There’s no fancy make-up, no proper hairstyles, no high fashion clothes. The characters wear clothes that real people in the “ghetto” wear: Baby Phat, Pepe, Ecko-red. These characters ARE the streets. Silverbush and Skolnik also do a great job of using the scenery around them. The film uses no sets, just streets. What you see in the film is the real thing and that vibe that the scenery gives off adds more authenticity to the film. Even Skolnik said “the community embraced us.” As if the characters and scenery didn’t do their best in portraying the authenticity, the title itself came from a phrase that the young girls in juvie actually used. The girls in the penitentiary used the phrase “on the outs” to refer to life outside of their four walls. “The girls would tell me ‘Yo, could you say hi to ma boy ‘on the outs’ for me?’” said Skolnik.
On the outs brings the true stories and true emotions of these three girls to the screen in a way that no film has ever done.