Black men sitting behind bars and running from the law are no joke, but this film shamelessly pokes fun at both to get cheap laughs. The title of this stupefying film is the slang term for the California law AB 971. The law (passed in 1994) calls for a mandatory 25-year-to-life prison sentence for anyone who commits his third felony in the state. Too bad the law doesn't apply to movies. D.J. Pooh, a subpar rapper and average producer, wrote and directed this farce. His Hollywood credentials include co-writing the ghetto hit Friday with Ice Cube. His reward for making the studio bosses a ton of money with Friday is a chance to get behind the wheel for the first time. Predictably, Pooh's skill as a director is on a novice level, but the worst aspect of the degrading film is the wasteful use of the cast. The lineup of those suckered in includes N'Bushe Wright (Blade), David Alan Grier (Boomerang), and De'Aundre Bonds (The Wood), all terrific actors who deserve to land in better projects. The only redeeming quality of 3 Strikes is the soundtrack, which features Tha Eastsidaz, Total, C-Murder, and E-40 (the members of which also appear in the flick). (R) Rating: 1
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