Blackbird (DVD REVIEW)
Blackbird
DVD
Review by Kam Williams
Gospel-Driven
Cross of Precious and Rent Arrives on DVD
Randy
Rousseau (Julian Walker) claims to be straight, even though everybody
thinks he’s gay basically because he’s effeminate, sings in the
church choir, and is a member of Christian High’s drama club. The
repressed 17 year-old has even confessed to his BFFs, Effie (Gary
Leroi Gray) and Crystal (Nikki Jane), to waking up “soaked in sin”
after nightly wet dreams in which he makes love to other guys.
Nevertheless,
he’s so deep in denial, that he’s willing to take Crystal’s
virginity to prove his masculinity. But that brief experimentation
with heterosexuality is only momentary, while his choosing to co-star
in Romeo and Julian, a gay-themed, school production of Romeo and
Juliet, proves a tad more telling.
Perhaps
Randy’s reticence to come out of the closet has to do with his
horrible relationship with his parents, between an absentee dad
(Isaiah
Washington)
he can barely recognize (“Who the eff are you?”), and a
Bible-thumping mother (Mo’Nique) who calls him an “effing punk”.
In addition, she blames her son for the mysterious disappearance of
her daughter (Hannah Moye), and has faith that God will send her back
home once Randy is purged of his gender-bending demons once and for
all.
Directed
and co-written by Patrik-Ian Polk, Blackbird is a coming-of-age
musical adventure which walks the fine line between drama and comedy.
That failure to commit is an unfortunate flaw which serves to
undercut any serious message the picture intends to deliver about
tolerance.
Another
problem is that the overplotted production has too many sidebars
distracting our attention away from the compelling question of
Randy’s sexual orientation. There’s the return of his Prodigal
sister, his mama proselytizing in the supermarket, a pal infected
with an STD, a married man cruising at a gay Lover’s Lane, the
suicide of a preacher’s (Tirell Tilford) daughter (D. Woods), and
an exorcism.
Despite
its failings, I’m still willing to give Blackbird a little credit
for tackling a subject that remains taboo in the black community. A
gospel-driven cross of Precious and Rent, only set in a sleepy
Southern town that time forgot instead of New York City.
Good
(2
stars)
Rated
R for teen
sexuality, profanity and drug use
Running
time: 99 minutes
Distributor:
RLJ Entertainment
DVD
Extras: Deleted scenes; audition footage; Behind-the-Scenes of
Blackbird; D. Woods music video “Find Your Way”; and the
theatrical trailer.
To order
a copy of Blackbird on DVD, visit:
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