ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

Stephan James

21 Bridges – Hunting Cop Killers

by Leave a Comment

“There are 21 bridges in and out of Manhattan. Shut’em down. Three rivers. Close them. Four tunnels. Block them. Stop every train line that leaves the island – Amtrak, PATH, New Jersey Transit, LIRR—and loop the subways. Then we flood the island with blue.”

That is certainly a dramatic undertaking! Just think of closing down all of Manhattan! That is the hook for 21 Bridges, a police thriller from director Brian Kirk and producers Joe and Anthony Russo.

Taylor Kitsch and Stephan James star in 21 BRIDGES

When a pair of criminals (Taylor Kitsch and Stephan James) steal cocaine from a restaurant used by a drug dealer, they are surprised by some police. In the shootout several police are killed. Detective Andre Davis (Chadwick Boseman) is brought in to investigate, and teamed up with narcotics detective Frankie Burns (Sienna Miller), a single mom struggling with the pressures of life. When it becomes obvious the killers are in Manhattan, and since it’s 2:00 a.m., the decision is made to shut down the island to find the killers. In a race against the clock the killers try to find their way out while Davis and the police zero in on them.

Davis is the real focus of the film. It opens with the words from Romans 13:4 being read at a funeral, and focusing on a child with tears in his eyes. It turns out that this is his father’s funeral, after his father, also a police officer, was killed in the line of duty. That verse, which of worldly authorities executing justice on God’s behalf, color how we see Andre throughout the film.

Chadwick Boseman stars in 21 Bridges

When we next see Davis, he is meeting with a police board. It turns out he has been involved in eight shootings in nine years—all justifiable. It is no wonder he is chosen to find these killers. No one wants them taken alive—except maybe Davis. The angry precinct captain (J.K. Simmons) is perfectly clear that he sees no point in prolonging the execution of justice. But Davis, we discover is not about killing bad guys—he’s about finding the truth. And the truth turns out to be far more complicated that just shutting down Manhattan. And when the truth is uncovered, Davis is determined to continue to be the manifestation of justice.

The film is very much a story of good vs. evil. However, the clear boundary between the two in the first half of the film becomes more complex in the second half. That makes the biblical quote that opens the film a bit sticky to consider. It is one thing to think of police as working with God’s authority to execute justice (I have some quibbles with this interpretation in the film, but I’ll let that pass), but what about when what we see the police acting in why that is clearly not in line with God’s justice? That becomes the central question of the latter part of the film.

J.K. Simmons, Chadwick Boseman and Sienna Miller star in 21 BRIDGES Image Courtesy of STXfilms

Oh, and the shutting all the bridges, etc.? I think it would make a really interesting film to focus on the logistics of that actually happening. Here it is really a minor plot point that very little actual attention is paid to. I wouldn’t be surprised that a plan to do that exists, but in this film it is far too spur of the moment to really be given credence.

Photos courtesy of STX Financing

If Beale Street Could Talk: Smooth Jazz and Social Commentary

by Leave a Comment

“Every black person born in America was born on Beale Street, born in the black neighborhood of some American city, whether in Jackson, Mississippi, or in Harlem, New York. Beale Street is our legacy.”

– James Baldwin, If Beale Street Could Talk

Set in early 1970s Harlem, If Beale Street Could Talk tells the story of Tish (Kiki Layne), a young woman who vividly recalls the passion, respect and trust that have deeply connected her to her artist fiancé, Fonny (Stephan James). Having known each other since childhood, the couple dream of a life together, yet their wistful dreams are thrown off-course when Fonny is unjustly arrested for a crime he did not commit.

Based on the book of the same name by James Baldwin, the latest offering from director Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) weaves a complex narrative that entrances as it unravels. Featuring incredible performances throughout (especially from Regina King), Beale Street feels authentic in its portrayal of the African-American experience. Like Moonlight, Jenkins wisely opts to use relative newcomers in most of the key roles, allowing the audience to focus on the performances themselves as opposed to the film’s ‘star power’. While very different than Moonlight, Beale Street continues to showcase Jenkins’ talent as a storyteller and his unique ability to craft engaging and authentic characters.

What’s more, there’s an intrinsic beauty in Beale Street that serves as a reminder of the magnificence of life in the moment. Takes are long and slow moving, characters speak poetically and every scene plays out in such a manner as to make you appreciate every second. In a world where quick cuts and shaky camera work are used liberally to create tension, Beale Street wants you to feel every breath and note offered by its cast. In fact, the film seems to move visually like jazz, carrying the ebb and flow of musical transitions within its dialogue and structure.

While the pacing may frustrate those who are looking for the wildness of modern film, Jenkins makes no apologies for his style. Although the film takes place in 1970s Harlem, the film somehow feels timeless. Through his visual style and lyrical tone, Jenkins not only highlights the tragedies and brokenness of the African-American experience in ’70s America, he also celebrates every moment as part of a vast tapestry of life. The film recognizes that, in the midst of struggle and mourning, there still remains a sense that every second—and every soul—has value and meaning. We know that every moment in life matters, because every moment carries life within it. As a result, Beale Street is somehow both scathing and wondrous at the same time.

In the end, If Beale Street Could Talk, it would undoubtedly speak to the value of every soul that is encompassed within it. Emphasizing every breath and moment as something of value, Beale Street speaks life into the pain and suffering of its characters, offering hope in the midst of hopelessness.

Special features on the Blu-ray combo pack include commentary by director Barry Jenkins, deleted scenes, and the featurette, “If Beale Street Could Talk: Poetry in Motion.”

Maybe We Aren’t Ready for FOX’s Shots Fired

by 1 Comment

The Department of Justice sends an up-and-coming lawyer, Preston Terry (Selma, Race), and a seasoned investigator, Ashe Akino (Sanaa Lathan, The Best Man series, Love & Basketball), to investigate the shooting of a white college student by an African American sheriff’s deputy in a small, North Carolina town. But their investigation is a tangled web of lies and layers of racism that intersect with the murder of a black teenager previously – that no one has explored. This is the premise of FOX’s Shots Fired, created and written by Gina Prince-Blythewood (Secret Life of Bees, Beyond the Lights) and Reggie Rock Blythewood, cancelled before it even aired its final season one episode. Was it too on-point for the world we live in today?

Over the course of its ten episodes, the show revealed secrets about the practices of the sheriff’s department, through the life of the African American deputy, Josh Beck (Tristan Wilds), his commanding officer, Lieutenant Breeland (Stephen Moyer, True Blood), and the sheriff, Daniel Platt (Will Patton, Remember the Titans, Armaggedon). Local African American pastor Janae James (Aisha Hinds, The Shield, Under the Dome) wields power in the town, especially in the low economy area where the bulk of the black population lives, called The Houses; Governor Patricia Eamons (Helen Hunt, Mad About You, As Good As It Gets) has authority, but much of her power comes from well-to-do financial investors like real estate magnate Arlen Cox (Richard Dreyfuss, Mr. Holland’s Opus, American Graffiti).

This is a tangled political, social, and economic web that the African American team from the DOJ must investigate, but the lines they cross are far from easy. The blue line of the police force, the black and white line of race, and the green line of financial power and poverty threaten them at every turn; no one wants Terry and Akino there, because they might reveal the truth and exacerbate the problems before they return to Washington, D.C. If no one wants the truth to be known, how can the investigators get anywhere?

As Terry and Akino dig, they experience the deep anger and sadness of the dead college student’s mother, Alicia Carr (Jill Hennessey, Law & Order), and that of the dead African American teen killed just weeks earlier, Shameeka Campbell (newcomer DeWanda Wise). While the Blythwoods are wrapping a murder mystery into the FOX episode, the audience is gripped by the palpable grief of white and black mothers, the fear of the police force when wrestling with violence and crime, the years of hurt, abuse, and pain inflicted on the African American community, and the extent to which money, power, and white privilege are latent below the surface… until they’re not.

Adding depth to Terry and Akino are their own backstories: Terry is the less-favored brother to a Carolina Panthers star who is fighting to be accepted as a real lawyer within the DOJ; Akino is fighting for custody of her daughter, aware of her own mistakes on the job and in marriage. Both are African American, and their own biases (and perceived biases) cause them trouble as they investigate the sheriff’s department for the death of the white college student … and later the death of the seventeen-year-old African American teen.

In the midst of a world where race seems involved in every (other?) news story, Shots Fired entertained, challenged, angered, and saddened me. One African American friend told me he didn’t need to watch the show because it’s his reality; the events involving Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice… the list goes on and on… prove that what he says is all too true.

As a media critic and a pastor, I found myself torn between the desire to see “whodunit?” and a way forward through the racism and injustice. Shots Fired doesn’t wrap it all up nicely, cutely, in a box. But it does challenge our own impressions, insecurities, privilege, power, and bias. It does demand that we consider – those who embrace faith – where the line is between peaceful compassion toward reconciliation and angry, proactive action to justice. With a few exceptions, Shots Fired brings a multifaceted approach to a centuries’ old struggle in the United States and asks us to move.

I’m just not sure the audience was ready for it given the ratings. Hopefully, others will watch it on Hulu, On Demand, etc. because the truth is this:

We need more Shots Fired. We need more prayer. We need more action. We can’t watch silently any longer.