In pre-crack Harlem (circa 1986), two friends and their enforcer forge a high-living drug empire that, through trickle-down, provides social benefits — everyone gets "paid" and everyone "eats." Based on the lives of three drug-dealing "legends," Paid in Full amounts to a Horatio Alger yarn by way of Scarface (1983) — a motivational favorite of the street merchants.

The story’s arc follows Ace (Wood Harris), a clean-cut kid living it straight until the draw of money and power adulterates his position. He takes over a corner post for his buddy Mitch (Mekhi Phifer), who’s pulling a stint in jail, and with a little organizational savvy becomes the ’hood’s kingpin supplier. Mitch gets out, the pillars of green grow taller, and everyone’s living fat — that is, until treachery and greed enter the equation.

Director Charles Stone and writer Thulani Davis articulate the tale with all the histrionic seriousness of a Shakespearean tragedy, and somehow they evoke empathy for otherwise avaricious street scum. Wood carries the film as the reticent ringleader, though he yields the limelight to Phifer’s charismatic smile and rapper Cam’ron’s over-the-top, gun-happy soldier. This is a gritty portrait that despite its tardy arrival to the ’hood genre still makes itself felt. (93 minutes)