The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete - 2013

 

My Synopsis: This is a coming of age movie of two young youths. Living in the projects is never an easy life. Mister who is just 13 years old has a huge reality check when his mother is arrested. Mister is forced to take charge, he must now look after himself and his 9 year old friend Pete, a runaway who come to Misters mum for aide after his own mum abandoned him. Mister and Pete go through the entire summer learning to survive on their own and trying to avoid protective services.

Director: George Tillman Jr

Producer(s): George Tillman, Jr. Jana Edelbaum, Rachel Cohen, Robert Teitel

Writer: Michael Starrbury

Stars: Skylan Brooks, Ethan Dizon, Anthony Mackie, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks, Jeffrey Wright

Genre: Drama


MY PORTRAYAL OF THE MOVIE:

 

13 year old Misters’ (Skylan Brooks) last day at school before the summer holidays begin, he finds out he has failed English and unfortunately will be repeating the eighth grade upon his return from his summer break. He skates home to his Brooklyn Park Projects apartment to find yet another depressing situation at home. No food in the cupboard, the place is filthy and the little money they do have seems to in the veins of his junkie prostitute mother (Jennifer Hudson). He also finds out that he now has Pete (Ethan Dizon) his mothers’ junkie friends’ son, who is now staying with them indefinitely.

In the next few days Mister is skating home when he sees the police pull up, they are raiding his building. You see everyone fleeing in all directions like they are already guilty. Mister rushes upstairs to find his mum on the couch somewhat passed out with a used needle on the table. Next thing he knows the police are knocking at their door, him and Pete run and hide to avoid being caught themselves, they arrest his mum and she is taken away. Mister is confronted with the thought that his mother has possibly been taken off to jail, and he now has someone else he is accountable for. He does the best thing he can for now – try to survive, while waiting for his mother to return and avoid child protective services in the meantime. When the days turn into weeks and there is still no sign of his mother returning it becomes apparent that their need to exist and survive by any means necessary is important. They become vigilant, self-reliant, and thrifty, though the lack of food, electricity and money is taking its toll on them.

Mister feels the weight of his and Pete journey but through their adversities they become closer. A few long weeks have gone past and they have managed to survive though they are looking rather scrawny and malnourished to say the least, they have also successfully dodged the authorities who have made some untimely attempts to visit the unit on several occasions.

They attempt to make the most of their unfortunate situation by engaging in homemade games and play acting kept them entertained for a while but the every growing sounds of their empty bellies quickly brought them back to their reality. At one point their desperation lead them to breaking into Misters neighbours apartment to salvage whatever food, money, or credit cards they can find to help lessen their burden just for a few more weeks.

Misters’ journey leads him to some good, bad and untrustworthy characters. Though they make him stronger and more determined and teach him some life lessons, they do challenge him and there are a few confronting scenes in the movie. In the end it’s these untrustworthy characters that alternately lead Mister and Pete to the authorities, Pete been too weak to run from them due to a nasty fever is the first to be caught. It isn’t too long until Mister is met with a rather ill-timed fate when the local business owner (who has had it in for Mister since day one) turns on him and attempts to strangle him in broad daylight, fortunately the policeman how has been knocking on Misters door for the past few weeks happen to come to his aide. Turns out he saves him from the crazy shop owner but sequentially takes him to juvenile detention. The very  place he has been trying to avoid all summer!

This place reunites him with Pete, who is ecstatic to see him and boasts about how wonderful it has been, clean clothes, good food, shelter, and well it’s a small price to pay for the bruising on his face. Mister quickly realizes even with all the ‘perks’ Juvenile Detention comes with its own set of fighting to survive rules.

A few more weeks go past and Mister and Pete are now accustomed to life in Juvie when suddenly his mother comes back into his life. She has cleaned up her act so it appears, looking nothing like the spirit her former self.

It’s a humbling ending and in some ways a new beginning for the both of them.

 
MY REVIEW:

There is an attention-grabbing list of supporting characters in this movie, Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks, Anthony Mackie, Jeffrey Wright but the two main leads I feel really took this movie by the balls so to speak. Skylan Brooks who played Mister and Ethan Dizon as Pete truly did an outstanding job, they certainly did a great job at capturing your attention throughout the movie and you truly feel your heart break at certain points in the movie. This movie leaves you wondering how much of this story is possibly true in that world, do the authorities fall short or even turn a blind eye to the goings-on in the projects.

This movie certainly depicts the scary reality for some children who are born into that social economy of life. As a mother this movie does unquestionably pull at my heartstrings, however it also shows me the strength and courage children who are faced with adversities in life and can truly accomplish great things regardless of their limitations. It’s a great movie! and definitely a must watch, with cringe worthy scenes and all.

Regards, S

 

 

 

Beyond the Lights - 2014

My Synopsis: From the very beginning this young girl Noni (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) has been primed by her overbearing mother (Minnie Driver) for stardom. The pressures of her success as she grows too become a successful young artist comes at a cost when she attempts to take her own life. Luckily for her, Kaz (Nate Parker) her bodyguard/police officer assigned to her at the time comes to her rescue. There is an instant connection between Kaz and Noni, however there is protest from concerned parties around them, fearing their romance will come in the way of both their individual successes. Ultimately, Kaz's devotion to Noni gives her the strength to find her inner voice and become the artist she has always meant to be.

Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood

Producer(s): Stephanie Allain, Reggic Rock Bythewood, Ryan Kavanaugh

Writer: Gina Prince-Bythewood

Stars: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Minnie Driver, Nate Parker, Danny Glover, Machine Gun Kelly

Genre: Romantic drama    
                           
MY PORTRAYAL OF THE MOVIE:

The first scene you see mother (Minnie Driver) and young daughter Noni (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) rush into a closing hairdressers in desperate need of a haircut. Noni is singing in the contest the next day and mother is desperate for her daughters’ hair to be done.

The next morning with her new hairdo she steps out on stage and sings Blackbird by Nina Simone. Noni sings this so well and at the end she comes second place! But her mother is furious with the outcome asks Noni to destroy yet another runners up trophy. Do you want to be a runner up or a winner?! She says.

The next scene takes you forward many years. You see a very young woman dancing quite provocatively on screen, thrusting her body and performing for the camera. This turns out to be Noni and Kid Culprits (Machine Gun Kelly) music video which is played in the background of the Billboard Awards. After winning her first major music award she walks outside and is greeted by screaming fan.  She has a big fancy apartment that she goes back too to unwind after all her shows, when she arrives at her room she requests the bodyguard/police officer (Nate Parker) at the door not to allow anyone else in after her. Her mother as always persuades the bodyguard to let her in, only to find her daughter in a compromising situation on the edge of the balcony. The bodyguard rushes to her aide after hearing her mothers’ scream. As Noni decides to throw herself of the balcony of her Beverly Hills Apartment hours after she wins her Billboard award, the bodyguard grabs her from falling, holds her up over the balcony, they lock eyes for a moment and he says something to her that gives her comfort and reassurance to live.

A press conference following Nonis' mere brush with death has sparked suicidal attempts which are quickly dismissed. However her mother or rather her ‘momager’ is fed up of her behaviour and promises her record label that the upcoming BET awards will shake off all the negative vibes and bring Noni to supernova status in the R&B world.

After Kazs’ heroic act, his father (Danny Glover) who is a police captain suggests he takes advantage of the situation to boost Kazs’ political campaign.  Kaz on the other hand has an overwhelming sense of protection for Noni and makes his way to see her. Kaz and Noni get a change to have a moment alone and she decides to ditch her appointments with her mother to escape for the night with Kaz. The next morning Noni shows up at Kaz house asks him to chaperon her on her promotional obligations. She's goes through the meet and greets, charity visits, photos shoots, all the while Kaz standing in the background and her mother instructing her from the side lines whilst still on her phone texting away.
 The next few scenes go from Noni surprising Kaz with a private flight to the BET awards, a red carpet arrival, to backstage where Noni gets ready to go on stage to perform her latest hit with Kid Culprit. This performance becomes quite dramatic as the rapper practically sexually assaults her on stage during the performance. Kaz comes to her aide once again and protects her. Her mother of course is utterly guttered by the outburst and thinks that Noni has ruined her reputation once again and more so with the record label.

After that incident Kaz decides Noni need to be taken away from all this just for a while, so they pack their bags and drive, they head to a beautiful and secluded bungalow in Mexico.  Noni reveals her true self while she is there. She takes of the trademark purple extensions, the makeup and the music industry persona. She enjoys walking through the streets of Mexico where no one recognizes her. She goes to a local karaoke bar and enjoys the local talent, and finds the strength to get up on stage herself and once again perform her life song, Blackbirds by Nina Simone to which she performed with some much conviction and rawness it was very emotional to watch.

From this though spills a media frenzy and before she know it the paparazzi and her ‘momager’ are knocking at her door in Mexico. Minnie Drivers character is probably the closest portrayal to a villain in this movie, however her heart wrenching talk about how tough it was to be a white girl raising a black baby in the public housing system in the end makes you see why she did what she did for Noni.

Turns out her media exposure was the best thing for Noni, she can finally have her say, continue to move forward with her mother the way she has always wanted, unfortunately though she leaves Kaz behind in Mexico.

So back to their own lives. Kaz is back in the politic scene using the younger voters appeal. Noni and her momager are back at the record label negotiating her rights. Noni wants her own songs on the album so her mother throws a curve ball at management and gets what they want.

With everything seemingly going their way, Nonis’ mother admitted that her whole curve ball was not to get Noni her rights but as a payback to the former manager. This sparked a massive and intense argument between them. It’s the first time Noni takes charge of her life and unfortunately fires the person in her life that has brought her to where she is now.

Presumably weeks pass and Noni steps out on her own, she confronts the rumours, and embracing her true self for the first time in a long time in an on-air interview. She travels back home to perform at an open air concert where for she gets to finally perform her own song, declares her love for Kaz and all the while in a bittersweet ending her mother now no longer part of her success sits at her home listening to her daughter sing freely via speaker on her phone.

MY REVIEW:

This movie had great potential, it had all the elements to keep us interested, from self-image to suicide, music industry antics and politics, even a throw of a mixed-race relationship, and a journey of self-discovery. There were elements of the movie that were interesting and intense, and you can see where they were trying to go with it, however it just took too long to get there, it was quite slow at the beginning and I almost lost interest. Although as the movie progressed it certainly drew me in and it became quite in-depth as the movie continued.

I thought Minnie Driver and Nate Parker performed their roles extremely well. I enjoyed seeing the transformation and rawness in Gugu Mbatha-Raws' character unfold towards the end of the movie, I feel she embodied the character of Noni brilliantly.

It had all the cliché and predictable moments throughout in the movie, boy meets girl, they fall in love, they go through a hardship and then they live happily ever after. There were some scenes in the movie which made me think twice about the hidden message ie. The scene in which Kid Culprit and Noni walk on stage to accept their award, we see Noni walking behind Kid Culprit wearing an ensemble which looks very much like she is wearing shackles, giving me the impression there was a derogatory and misogynistic undertone message Prince-Byrthewood was trying to bring across.

The meaning behind the song 'Blackbird' by Nina Simone was what I believe the true reflection of the movie was about. A girl wants to show her true self but lacks the confidence she needed to allow herself to find her voice and be free to fly. Towards the end of the movie you can really see the connection and begin to understand the underlining message. My significant other thought it was quite a deep movie, maybe he was just distracted by Gugu Mbatha-Raw strutting her stuff in the earlier scenes. In the end I thought it made for good viewing. It’s definitely a movie to watch and decide for yourself.

Regards, S