Felon Melvin Rivers gets paroled after serving a stretch in prison and subsequently struggles with finding a job while trying to avoid the criminal behavior that resulted in his incarceration.
Director Robert Kaylor astutely captures the pungent stench of harsh reality as he frankly addresses the bleak limited options available to ex-cons and provides no easy answers concerning the hapless plight of the sympathetic Rivers. Moreover, Kaylor makes excellent and inspired use of both grungy backstreet locations and real-life ex-cons who include Charles McGregor of "Superfly" fame. Shot with no script in stark black and white in a rough you-are-there verite style, with a loose, yet still coherent and compelling improvisational approach, this striking portrait of urban blight and despair possesses a certain raw intimacy and authenticity that overall packs a real quietly potent punch.
Director Robert Kaylor astutely captures the pungent stench of harsh reality as he frankly addresses the bleak limited options available to ex-cons and provides no easy answers concerning the hapless plight of the sympathetic Rivers. Moreover, Kaylor makes excellent and inspired use of both grungy backstreet locations and real-life ex-cons who include Charles McGregor of "Superfly" fame. Shot with no script in stark black and white in a rough you-are-there verite style, with a loose, yet still coherent and compelling improvisational approach, this striking portrait of urban blight and despair possesses a certain raw intimacy and authenticity that overall packs a real quietly potent punch.