Year of Release: 2022
Director: Millicent Shelton
Starring: Queen Latifah, Chris Bridges, Beau Bridges, Frances Lee McCain, Mychala Lee, Shaun Dixon, Jesse Luken, Tabatha Shaun, Tim Stafford, Keith Jardine, Travis Hammer
Genre: Drama, Crime
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 2
Watch it on Netflix
Synopsis and Review
Another release hailing from Netflix, this time around with the lead role being occupied by one of its producers, the charismatic Queen Latifah. The film follows the story of the Brendan family who is about to embark on a move from California to Texas due to a dramatic loss they recently experienced. Brenda the mother is a registered nurse, and she's moving both her kids Kelly and Cam, alongside her brother Reggie, all to Houston to live with her mother in order to get a new start on all their lives. Since they're low on funds, they're driving across the country, and trying to be frugal in their expenditures. Things take a darker turn, when while staying in a motel in Arizona, they hear an altercation in the room next door followed by a gun shot. When they go and investigate, they find a wounded victim, who Brenda promptly tries to help, while Reggie notices a mysterious suitcase, which he soon realizes is flushed with money. The victim dies, and the next day the family resumes their itinerary, after addressing the police's questions. The local sheriff calls them to come back with further information, but Brenda mentions she has nothing left to say and soldiers on. Things escalate when the crime lord whom the money belongs to comes for Brenda and her family and takes Cam. She decides to go back to the motel and leave the money in a room she has marked and communicates her plan. However, things don't go as smoothly as planned, and Brenda has to untangle the mess they're all in.
Millicent Shelton has had a very extensive career in TV, having directed episodes for various shows, including prominent ones such as "The Walking Dead", "Preacher", "American Crime", "Californication" and the list goes on. Her feature directorial debut actually occurred in 1998 with "Ride", and this is effectively her sophomore effort. Both the narrative and the way it is illustrated for this particular feature, almost resembles a pilot for a TV show, in the sense that there's both the eruptive drama from traumatic experiences the family has gone through (meant to elicit a heartfelt reaction from the audience), married with the comedy value, light banter and recklessness of the younger sibling, and both those threads tied with the incredulity of a crime plot that never really congeals, but that wants to come across as edgy and nightmarish as possible. The film has a hard time in finding its tone, since on one hand it wants to come across as a drama narrative describing the challenges an African-American family has to go through after the loss of their patriarch, but suddenly it takes an inflection and it wants to be a "Taken" type of thriller where ultimately nothing ties together very coherently or even in tone (the whole crime community in the desert eerily reminiscent of Wes Craven's "The Hills Have Eyes" also doesn't do the film any favors). By the time the predictable crime lord figure presents itself, and the subsequent situations occur, the more the film loses its credibility and whatever statement it was trying to say (even if it was a purely entertaining one). It's a film that doesn't know what it is or what it wants to be. Queen Latifah has a commanding presence, but even her charisma can't save this film or her character, which is also poorly defined. Kudos for the casting of the always wonderful Beau Bridges and Frances Lee McCain. It's a missed opportunity and a forgettable film for everyone involved.
0 comments:
Post a Comment