This is my first time seeing renowned voice actor Samuel Vincent in a screen role. I've been a lifelong fan of him and he gives a fantastic performance here. He's absolutely ferocious. I've never seen or heard him play a role like that before. And his performance is shocking because Vincent is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet and he usually plays nice guys as well.
The script, while clunky at times, is incredibly well-researched. Detective Pearce, a growling menace sporting a full beard, is the very embodiment of white fragility. An unholy blend of Laurence Fox and Brock Peters, he whines about his life being ruined and takes offence to being called a racist, then rattles off everything about black culture he doesn't like. He thinks he's a hero in a Greek tragedy. His name is even Jason. But being confined to a desk job isn't exactly comparable to having a mast head fall on you. No, Jason is the villain. A villain who goes crying to his wife and daughter whenever he's sorry he got caught.
The dialogue between the Bell family feels incredibly natural. There's so much heart and humanity between each of the family members. Terrific performances as well.
The beginning of the film shows the family man side of Pearce. Vincent's down-to-earth charm comes through here as he playfully interacts with his daughter and his wife. His family bring out a startling amount of humanity in him.
This film is very cleverly edited and, for the first quarter, jumps around in time.
For once a character calls out the system for being racist, not just one bad apple.
However, the film does have the racist white cop dropping the N-bomb on one of the sons. This wouldn't be a problem except that the film was written by two white guys. This isn't Sam Vincent's fault. From what I can tell, he's one of the least racist people you'll ever meet, and you can tell he was uncomfortable saying the word.
The script was written with good intentions (possibly), but that was a big misstep. It seemed like these guys had the same entitlement as Tarantino.
It's not perfect, but it's better than I expected.
The script, while clunky at times, is incredibly well-researched. Detective Pearce, a growling menace sporting a full beard, is the very embodiment of white fragility. An unholy blend of Laurence Fox and Brock Peters, he whines about his life being ruined and takes offence to being called a racist, then rattles off everything about black culture he doesn't like. He thinks he's a hero in a Greek tragedy. His name is even Jason. But being confined to a desk job isn't exactly comparable to having a mast head fall on you. No, Jason is the villain. A villain who goes crying to his wife and daughter whenever he's sorry he got caught.
The dialogue between the Bell family feels incredibly natural. There's so much heart and humanity between each of the family members. Terrific performances as well.
The beginning of the film shows the family man side of Pearce. Vincent's down-to-earth charm comes through here as he playfully interacts with his daughter and his wife. His family bring out a startling amount of humanity in him.
This film is very cleverly edited and, for the first quarter, jumps around in time.
For once a character calls out the system for being racist, not just one bad apple.
However, the film does have the racist white cop dropping the N-bomb on one of the sons. This wouldn't be a problem except that the film was written by two white guys. This isn't Sam Vincent's fault. From what I can tell, he's one of the least racist people you'll ever meet, and you can tell he was uncomfortable saying the word.
The script was written with good intentions (possibly), but that was a big misstep. It seemed like these guys had the same entitlement as Tarantino.
It's not perfect, but it's better than I expected.