I wasn't familiar with the story and didn't bother to read what the movie was about. But a video reminiscent of Rodney King starts the film (the quality is poor and for those not familiar with the story, it doesn't help), so it can be assumed there is some tragedy, and as we get to know Oscar, we have to assume he will be the victim.
Still, Oscar is not a bad person. He does a lot of good things and he is very loving to his daughter. But he has made mistakes and he can get angry at people. It appears he has no other choice but to go back to his old life, but we want him to succeed some other way. Mostly, since he has no real source of income, he manages to get away with stealing when he won't get caught, and in one case his friends do the same. I didn't see the name Michael B. Jordan until later, but when I did ... oh, THAT'S why he was so good. I've seen him as a flawed but basically good guy in "Parenthood" and maybe a couple of other movies such as "Creed".
I've seen a lot of Octavia Spencer lately and she does a fine job here as his mom, holding it together when she has to, and resisting the temptation to make things too easy for her son.
Melonie Diaz is the patient girlfriend who as responsibilities and gets tired of seeing her man mess up. She has some really good scenes when the tragedy takes place. Plus she looks great in underwear.
Another standout performance comes from Kevin Durand, who seems to be the officer in charge in the real-life incident this movie is based on. While he is being unreasonable and not listening to those who say these men weren't the guilty parties, he seems to think he has to win at all costs to do his job right. It's not clear whether he was racist and maybe the casting has to match the real events, but all the officers seemed to be white and those being mistreated were Black.
I really liked Ahna O'Reilly as the young woman Oscar helped in the store where he claimed he worked and just had a day off. She shows up later.
The scenes with Oscar and his daughter are some of the most enjoyable. For all his faults Oscar is a great father. I would even say, as I did with a previous film I reviewed, it would be possible to take just the scenes of the two together and make a kid-friendly movie out of it. But of course most of this shouldn't be seen by kids.
And we get to laugh in a number of scenes. Knowing what's coming, or knowing something's coming, we might as well.
At least when I saw this on TV, it wasn't clear exactly what happened toward the end. I don't even know which officer is supposed to have messed up or why. There is a description of the findings and trial result before the end credits, but the movie does leave something to the imagination. There is blood but the violence isn't that explicit.
As one might expect with a movie with mostly Black characters in the hood, the so-called music isn't pleasant for someone with my taste.
It's a mostly good effort with a tragedy that can't be avoided because that was the main point.
Still, Oscar is not a bad person. He does a lot of good things and he is very loving to his daughter. But he has made mistakes and he can get angry at people. It appears he has no other choice but to go back to his old life, but we want him to succeed some other way. Mostly, since he has no real source of income, he manages to get away with stealing when he won't get caught, and in one case his friends do the same. I didn't see the name Michael B. Jordan until later, but when I did ... oh, THAT'S why he was so good. I've seen him as a flawed but basically good guy in "Parenthood" and maybe a couple of other movies such as "Creed".
I've seen a lot of Octavia Spencer lately and she does a fine job here as his mom, holding it together when she has to, and resisting the temptation to make things too easy for her son.
Melonie Diaz is the patient girlfriend who as responsibilities and gets tired of seeing her man mess up. She has some really good scenes when the tragedy takes place. Plus she looks great in underwear.
Another standout performance comes from Kevin Durand, who seems to be the officer in charge in the real-life incident this movie is based on. While he is being unreasonable and not listening to those who say these men weren't the guilty parties, he seems to think he has to win at all costs to do his job right. It's not clear whether he was racist and maybe the casting has to match the real events, but all the officers seemed to be white and those being mistreated were Black.
I really liked Ahna O'Reilly as the young woman Oscar helped in the store where he claimed he worked and just had a day off. She shows up later.
The scenes with Oscar and his daughter are some of the most enjoyable. For all his faults Oscar is a great father. I would even say, as I did with a previous film I reviewed, it would be possible to take just the scenes of the two together and make a kid-friendly movie out of it. But of course most of this shouldn't be seen by kids.
And we get to laugh in a number of scenes. Knowing what's coming, or knowing something's coming, we might as well.
At least when I saw this on TV, it wasn't clear exactly what happened toward the end. I don't even know which officer is supposed to have messed up or why. There is a description of the findings and trial result before the end credits, but the movie does leave something to the imagination. There is blood but the violence isn't that explicit.
As one might expect with a movie with mostly Black characters in the hood, the so-called music isn't pleasant for someone with my taste.
It's a mostly good effort with a tragedy that can't be avoided because that was the main point.