Nice cinematography. But there are too many characters, too many stories, and not enough time to care about any of them due to lack of motivation for their actions (possible exception for Rosario Dawson's character). The only reason I watched this was for Dawson, and for the short time she's on screen her performance is very good. But she isn't really a main character; more of a secondary character as the camera dwells on kids and junkies who are not well acted and whose stories go nowhere.

"Mark Weber's Explicit Ills has a tenderness that belies its fiery left-leaning political views about urban poverty and social injustice." - Nick Schager

"A film that wants to speak out (loudly and clearly) about some of our nation's most obvious maladies, and it does so in an impressively honest, angry, and semi-hopeful fashion."