It stars Anne Hathaway, Bijou Phillips,[3] and Mike Vogel, with Shiri Appleby, Freddy Rodriguez, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Channing Tatum, Michael Biehn, and Laura San Giacomo appearing in supporting roles.

The film follows the lives of wealthy Los Angeles teenagers whose exposure to hip hop culture inspires them to imitate the gangster lifestyle and engage in slum tourism.

Afterwards, she and her friends drive downtown into East Los Angeles, intent on buying marijuana, eventually encountering Mexican drug dealer Hector and his crew.

Meanwhile, Toby and his gang are shown posing with guns in front of Eric and his video camera, making clear on their intent to seek revenge on Hector's crew.

Toby tries to work up the nerve to shoot them, but, consumed by their desperate pleas to not hurt the baby, realizes he can't and storms out.

The original treatment of the script was written in 1993 by Jessica Kaplan, who was 14 years old at the time, and was based on her own observations of her affluent white classmates in West Los Angeles.

[6][7] Originally titled The Powers That Be, the script was a drama about Beverly Hills high school students who try to get involved with the South Central Los Angeles gangster rap music scene, and a young male teacher who helps the main character deal with a tragedy as a result of said escapades, the script went unused for two years, eventually gaining traction with the studio after it received a re-write from Stephen Gaghan.

[11] On June 6, 2003, shortly before filming began, Kaplan was killed in a plane crash in Los Angeles, along with four other people, including her uncle.

When the script was sold in 1995, actors such as Alicia Silverstone, Stephen Dorff, Ethan Hawke, and Christian Slater were considered for roles.

[6] Mandy Moore was originally cast as Allison, but dropped out and was replaced by her Princess Diaries co-star Hathaway shortly before filming began.

Principal photography took place around Southern California, including Los Angeles, Altadena, Brentwood, and Santa Monica, in the fall of 2003.

[5] Maitland McDonagh of TV Guide stated that the picture was a minor effort that was even more disappointing after considering the highly regarded names who had worked on the film, most notably Academy Award-winners Kopple and Gaghan.

[15] Various critics praised Hathaway's performance in the film, with Christopher Null stating that her turn proved "without a doubt that she has been underutilized as an actress for far too long.