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Black and Blue
Despite a slightly predictable and cliche-filled screenplay, 2019's Black and Blue, is a first rate nail biter that works thanks to solid direction and the most bad ass movie heroine since Sigourney Weaver's Ripley.
Naomie Harris, a Best Supporting Actress nominee for the 2016 Best Picture winner Moonlight, plays Alicia West, a rookie police officer who witnesses three dirty cops murdering a drug killer and catches the whole thing on her body cam. She not only finds herself targeted by these cops. but by a powerful drug kingpin, who was the victim's uncle. Before she even realizes it, Alicia finds herself squaring against the entire police department but manages to find a single ally in a neighborhood store owner and childhood acquaintance named Mouse (Tyrese Gibson).
Screenwriter Peter A. Dowling, who also wrote the Jodie Foster thriller Flightplan has constructed a somewhat predictable story that initially starts off as a completely different kind of story. The film opens with her being stopped by police while jogging and then harassed by former friends of the hood, implying that the story is going to be about a black cop who has forgotten where she came from because she's a cop, but the real story does come into focus pretty quickly and also angers because we know this woman is innocent and can't believe no one in the department believes this woman and the allegiance of her old neighborhood seems to change with each scene.
Love this lead character though...even though she is a rookie on the police force, Alicia is a former soldier who did two tours in Afghanistan. She is no dummy, trained for tense situations, realizes immediately that she can't trust anyone, and no matter how bad the situation escalates. The story puts on her side immediately and the scene where she discovers that her own partner (Reid Scott) was in on the plan to get her, actually brought a lump to the throat.
More than anything, this film is a clear demonstration as to why people hate cops so much. That first scene where Alicia and her partner are riding through her old housing project is so telling...the looks of distrust and resentment on citizen's as if her joining the force was a personal betrayal. Even more upsetting was these dirty cops' reaction to finding Alicia has witnessed the whole thing...the idea that these guys would actually murder a fellow police officer in order to cover up their own crimes made me sick to my stomach. Not to mention, how long it took for the truth to come out and for these dirty cops to get what was coming to them.
Director Deon Scott has mounted a solid action thriller with first rate assistance from his film editing and second unit teams. Harris once again proves to be an actress of substance and versatility, playing one of the most durable heroines to hit the screen in awhile and Frank Grillo is completely hissable as the murderous dirty cop. Tyrese Gibson seems to have taken some acting lessons since the pathetic Baby Boy and Scott, Beau Knapp, and the bone-chilling Mike Cutler register in their roles as well. A solid action thriller that had me on the edge of my seat for most of the running time.
Despite a slightly predictable and cliche-filled screenplay, 2019's Black and Blue, is a first rate nail biter that works thanks to solid direction and the most bad ass movie heroine since Sigourney Weaver's Ripley.
Naomie Harris, a Best Supporting Actress nominee for the 2016 Best Picture winner Moonlight, plays Alicia West, a rookie police officer who witnesses three dirty cops murdering a drug killer and catches the whole thing on her body cam. She not only finds herself targeted by these cops. but by a powerful drug kingpin, who was the victim's uncle. Before she even realizes it, Alicia finds herself squaring against the entire police department but manages to find a single ally in a neighborhood store owner and childhood acquaintance named Mouse (Tyrese Gibson).
Screenwriter Peter A. Dowling, who also wrote the Jodie Foster thriller Flightplan has constructed a somewhat predictable story that initially starts off as a completely different kind of story. The film opens with her being stopped by police while jogging and then harassed by former friends of the hood, implying that the story is going to be about a black cop who has forgotten where she came from because she's a cop, but the real story does come into focus pretty quickly and also angers because we know this woman is innocent and can't believe no one in the department believes this woman and the allegiance of her old neighborhood seems to change with each scene.
Love this lead character though...even though she is a rookie on the police force, Alicia is a former soldier who did two tours in Afghanistan. She is no dummy, trained for tense situations, realizes immediately that she can't trust anyone, and no matter how bad the situation escalates. The story puts on her side immediately and the scene where she discovers that her own partner (Reid Scott) was in on the plan to get her, actually brought a lump to the throat.
More than anything, this film is a clear demonstration as to why people hate cops so much. That first scene where Alicia and her partner are riding through her old housing project is so telling...the looks of distrust and resentment on citizen's as if her joining the force was a personal betrayal. Even more upsetting was these dirty cops' reaction to finding Alicia has witnessed the whole thing...the idea that these guys would actually murder a fellow police officer in order to cover up their own crimes made me sick to my stomach. Not to mention, how long it took for the truth to come out and for these dirty cops to get what was coming to them.
Director Deon Scott has mounted a solid action thriller with first rate assistance from his film editing and second unit teams. Harris once again proves to be an actress of substance and versatility, playing one of the most durable heroines to hit the screen in awhile and Frank Grillo is completely hissable as the murderous dirty cop. Tyrese Gibson seems to have taken some acting lessons since the pathetic Baby Boy and Scott, Beau Knapp, and the bone-chilling Mike Cutler register in their roles as well. A solid action thriller that had me on the edge of my seat for most of the running time.