Big Words (FILM REVIEW)
Big Words
Film Review
by Kam Williams
Rap Group
Reunites on 2008 Election Day in Dream Deferred Drama
It’s November 4, 2008, and Brooklyn is bristling with anticipation about the
impending election returns to see whether or not Barack Obama will be the
nation’s first African-American president. But the magic of the moment is
pretty much lost on John aka MC Wordsmith (Dorian Missick), James aka Jay-V (Gbenga
Akinnagbe) and Terry aka DJ Malik (Darien Sills-Evans), despite the fact that
they’re black and hail from the ‘hood.
Back in the early Nineties, the
three shared a brief promising career as the Down Low Poets, a fledgling
hip-hop group which produced a video, two singles and an unreleased album
before disappearing from the record-biz radar. The band disbanded, went their
separate ways and lost touch entirely.
Today, with Obama poised to make
history, we find each consumed by a personal crisis. John has just been laid
off from his job as an IT technician. James is now a book publicist in a
stagnant relationship and considering seducing his handsome, young intern
(Zachary Booth). Only Terry is still an aspiring rap star, and stubbornly
refuses to see the handwriting on the wall after a couple of decades squandered
desperately trying to make it in the music business.
By a twist of fate, their paths
cross at an election night party where Obama’s achievement only serves as a
distracting backdrop. Proving far more compelling are the personal questions being
raised. What are John’s chances with the stripper (Yaya Alafia) he just picked
up at a go-go bar?
Will out-of-the-closet James’
once-hidden homosexuality remain a block to repairing relationships with his
former pals, especially his cousin, John? Will Terry drop the hip-hop moniker,
pull up his pants, and get a real job?
Written and directed by Neil
Drumming, Big Words is a perfectly plausible, character-driven drama with only
one glaring flaw. Why bother to set an African-American tale on Election Night
2008, if you plan to give Obama’s triumph such short shrift?
A poignant portrait of a very
eventful day in the lives of a trio too self-absorbed to care about who was
about to win the White House.
Very Good
(3 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 94 minutes
Distributor: AFFRM /
Twice Told Films
To see a trailer for Big
Words, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFonHX7KGKw
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