Feb
9
Plenty of cities have been th…
February 9, 2010 | |
Plenty of cities make been the bring into focus of films, but for some persuade Atlanta hasn’t been at the heart of as divers as one effect expect. That omission is remedied in this effort by first-over and over again director (but veteran music video director) Chris Robinson and a mostly-proselyte cast. This coming of age comedy-dramaturgy is something of a love letter to the city of Atlanta and the ‘hood of Mechanicsburg, centering on of all things a roller-skate rink.
The picture follows four friends proper weeks from high school graduation. Rashad Swann (Tip Harris, better known as rapper T.I.) is stressful to keep his hardly brother Antwone (Evan Ross) commission of turmoil, but Antwone finds the allure of drug tradesman Marcus (Antwan Andre Patton, rapper Big Boi of Outkast) overpowering. Esquire (Jackie Long) has aspirations of attending an Ivy Confederation school, and sees an opportunity to get know mogul John Garnett (Keith David) and take home a sign of recommendation. The other two, who net slightly shorter shrift storywise, are Latest York-born Brooklyn (Albe Daniels) and hustler Teddy (Jason Weaver). The clique is hoping to make a splash at the Cascade Roller Rink in the upcoming Skate Wars, but Rashad keeps getting distracted by ghetto girl New Unfledged (Lauren London), who has some secrets of her own.
With a cast wholly of rappers, it’s both surprising and refreshing that the fog doesn’t panegyrize the gangsta culture. In fact, it has a deep current of innocence (thanks in no modest part to the wholesomeness of the roller rink). It’s good to see inexperienced black men in solidly positive roles, with aspirations and making moral choices, in contrast to the typical grim fare Hollywood usually offers as examples. The result makes towards a character-driven information that’s moderately accessible even if you’re not from Atlanta or the south.
Although there are few consummate actors in the cast, the performances are very solid and naturalistic. Tip Harris in fine point comes insane as unrivalled-man material, with an angular and exceedingly explicit face and a broad emotional advise. Evan Ross more than holds his own as the younger brother. Mykelti Williamson provides much of the comedy, and he brings the boys’ bizarre guardian Uncle George to vivid and humorous sentience. One of the highlights is his rant at the youngsters’ getting more romantic action than he is, a perfectly-timed comic diatribe. Keith David provides plenty of gravitas as Garnett, oldest taking Esquire under the aegis his wing, then rejecting him when he realizes that the boy comes from Mechanicsburg, his own neighbourhood of source. There’s quantities of type distinction on display, but there’s also hope for societal mobility.
A person of the interesting aspects is the rein on a horde of points. Even though one of the cardinal foci is the arousal of sexuality in hormonally-charged young men, the picture never devolves into generic teen sex comedy purlieu. The sexuality is undeniably there (especially in POV shots of the under age women skating), but it’s infatuated seriously as renounce of the coming of age. Language is a protect Spartan, but it’s not the unending train of profanities one might have either. Finally, the allure of the skilful well-to-do to be made in the drug trade isn’t denied, but it’s depicted in for the most voice in a negative light. The result is a positive and uplifting picture that offers hope without being clichéed or pat.