Black And Blue

Alicia West (Naomie Harris) is caught between a rock and a hard place. Back in the world after 2 tours of Iraq she's taken a job she doesn't want because it's the only one she can get. She's a black woman in the New Orleans police department. She's called an Uncle Tom by the citizens she polices and mistaken for a criminal by her fellow cops when she's out of uniform. Respect for her is lacking on all sides and it's making her first weeks in the force a horrible experience. But what really kicks things off is a murder she witnesses in a run down New Orleans parish and within minutes she has killers on both sides of the law chasing her for the footage her body camera has recorded. She wants to do the right thing but what side will she fall on.

Black And White is formulaic stuff laden with a storyline that's been done to death but it's post Katrina setting and it's asides about what it's like to be both black and blue in a country that despises both turn it into a interesting watch. Add in an impressive turn from a hard as nails Naomie Harris and solid support from Tyrese Gibson as shopkeeper Milo & a venal and seedy Frank Grillo as a fellow blue and you have a film that will quickly pass a couple of hours for you. At no time will you be surprised though. You can see the bad guys and every plot point coming from a mile away and it's this that takes away from the story especially in the second half. Any bit of tension created in the first half dissipates when you realise you know exactly how it's going to finish. Always a nuisance when that happens. 

But as said, there's enough good going on to keep you watching. The opening moments of Alicia out jogging are a horribly jarring reminder of the world African American's find themselves living every day. Imagine leaving the house every day and worrying about not making it home? Christ no. Then imagine having to work 10 times as hard in your job as your co-workers just to be taken seriously. Then as the icing on the cake picture working a job where everywhere you go people look at you with fear and suspicion. Wouldn't it be an awful way to get through your day. Black and Blue paints the life of a minority in a role mostly filled by the majority as hell and as such the film becomes a microcosm of the minority experience in America.

It's not set in New Orleans randomly. A majority black city that was infamously given up on. Set mostly in the flood ravaged 9th ward it's a city still struggling. Throughout the movie we hear how FEMA and the President let the city down. The cops have given up and only answer calls there when a fellow blue is in trouble. It's quite a biting commentary on the state of U.S. affairs but it's muscular themes are sadly let down by a story not fresh enough to prop them up. Had the script been more willing to stray into greyer areas this could have been pretty memorable. 

Naomie Harris is a strong lead and hopefully her first leading role will carry her onto bigger and better things. Black And Blue will be out to buy on disc and to stream online soon.