John Boyega stars as Bambi. He's fresh out of prison and, for the sake of his child, determined not to get sucked back into the old life of crime but you know how it is; when you're around the same people and places you were before, how are you going to change?
There's a reason this films poster image is Boyega. He is this film's biggest asset. He shows once again that he has charisma to burn, and he turns in a well-played portrayal of a young man who could easily be a leader, the man the other criminals would turn to, but a man who knows where that life leads.
The problem with the movie is that it is trying to do way too much. And the film does not have the time or the insight to deliver on all of those parts.
There's a strand straight out of a Ken Loach movie about how hard it is for a person to get a job and go legit when they're an ex-con.
There's a part right out of a John Singleton movie about the lure of violence in a community which is offered few other ways to make money.
There's a sub-plot right out of movies like "Good Will Hunting" about a man from the wrong side of the tracks with a talent that could get him out. (Bambi is an aspiring writer, recording life in the 'hood.)
There's another strand that is all about the impact of environment on a child, and the efforts of a father to get the child away from all of that.
Any one (okay, maybe two) of these parts could have made a great movie but there's a feeling that writer/director Malik Vithal poured everything he wanted to say into this, his debut feature, and ended up saying too much, but not enough.
It's a shame because the direction is top notch. We get a real sense of the neighbourhood, and the walls that have been built around its citizens, not just the ones in prison.
