A movie about life that hardly is teaching or saying anything about life? I just don't know what this movie was trying to do or say with its story.
This movie is confusing me. Was it supposed to be some sort of random slice of life? Then why did it had to pick such a terribly uninteresting approach, with the totally wrong sort of characters. It just doesn't help the movie that its main character is a lying criminal, who besides, by his irresponsible actions, is constantly bringing his little 11-year old nephew in serious danger, while trying to teach him about the 'real life'.
Just because he takes his little nephew along and just because the movie is basically seen from the young, innocent, unbiased and still naive perspective of the young boy, the movie believes that's enough to make us sympathize for the movie it's main character as well. Well, nice try but it most certainly didn't work for me. It's just a cheap way to create some sympathy and provide the movie with some false emotions. The movie should have put some more effort into creating some true good emotions, plot lines and characters really. That way the movie actually might have turned into a heartfelt, effective- as well as truly engaging one.
And if this movie is supposed to be all about life, what kind of lessons are we supposed to take out of this movie? That crime doesn't pay and life on the streets is hard? Well, isn't that a well known fact and aren't there like a million movies like that already? No, this movie isn't teaching or showing us anything new and surely also doesn't provide any solutions or answers to anything. Granted that the movie isn't ever trying to provide any solutions or answer questions but it's the kind of depth and seriousness that I was missing from the movie and its story.
It's a very shallow and simplistic movie, that tries to come across as something realistic but all of its plot lines and developments prevent this movie from actually ever coming across as one.
I liked some of its cast. I mean hey, it has got Danny Glover and Charles S. Dutton in it and to be fair, Common isn't all too bad in this movie but his character certainly still remains a very lacking one and he also just isn't the sort of actor that you would like to watch as a main character. He doesn't have enough range (yet) as an actor to be able to pull off certain emotions and to move the audience and to get people behind his character.
There are far better and more effective genre movies to watch! This one is nothing but a half handed attempt, that is lacking any good depth, emotions and originality, to just about everything.
4/10
Watch trailer
No comments: