FILMBRATS - REVIEWS

After attending a city hall summit meeting, Joe quits his high-paying IT job so that he can become a teacher. Determined to help the inner city youth, he attempts to reach out and be one of the inspirational black leaders they need. He doesn’t take any crap from his trouble making students and tries to force them to take more responsibility for their actions and their schoolwork. His methods are punished however when an accusation of assault from his most adversarial pupil causes him to lose his job and causes the community to call him a racist against his own people. Joe quickly finds himself quickly spiraling into insanity, believing that his skin color is a curse. Can he figure out how to find redeeming qualities in the black community (and himself) in order to regain sanity and control of his life?

I know the movie has good intentions, but I can’t help but think that it will do more to perpetuate racism than to stop it. No matter what, it should get you talking, and it’s for that reason, and only that reason, that the script by Sharon Foster is good. There are definitely some bigoted racist remarks strewn in various places throughout the picture, and although it seems like they’re trying to get you to laugh at the ridiculousness of the statements, I don’t think the humor always comes across. The movie is comical, but not over the top enough. I really couldn’t tell if the audience was laughing because the characters were racist, or if they themselves thought the words rang true. Anyone with a closed mind or pre-conceived racist notions will simply see this as a validation of their beliefs. That’s a big problem.

So, the script is nice and adult and at least attempts to tackle the issues hard. But the filmmaking is very childish. The whole thing plays very much like a made for TV after school special. The music is way too playful and strange. The cinematography is shoddy at best. And Joe talks to the camera Zach Morris style (which they sort of explain a little later on, but it still doesn’t make it good). I know the picture wasn’t trying to take itself too seriously, but if they’re trying to convey messages of profound societal importance they need to do better than this. They made a mockery of themselves – plain and simple.

But like I said, the script will get you thinking. Assume you’re willing; it’ll get you to confront your own notions not only about race, but also about guilt and placing blame and maybe even religion. Besides that, the only barely redeeming factor is really the acting. David Oyelowo (Joe) does a really good job reacting, but when it comes to delivering lines he was prone to overdoing it a little bit. That’s pretty much the running theme of the movie.

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