Radha Blank is a star — as both an actress and a director. There are such smart decisions directing that she did and she is so charming. It is so painful during that first performance — the “Yo” one — and she plays it so naturally and perfectly. I don’t know what to make about her character also being her own name. It really blurs the line of this being her story and this being a movie she is making. My thoughts go around in a circle, trying to discern the intention behind the choice. Still I can’t wait to see more of her work. The ball sack moment was so well done, I had tp rewind it 3 times to understand what happened. I honestly thought my Netflix glitched. It also really cuts you like a dagger that he was forced to do that. While I really dug the atmosphere and overall look, I feel like it was a missed opportunity to shoot this on 16mm. I think that would have really made the film lived in a bit more. The film gave me off a vibe that reminded me a lot of early Spike Lee, specifically SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT mostly due to to the incidental horn music used in the film, black & white filming, the fact that it’s New York City, and its racial themes. It also brought back other independent cinema films like early Jim Jarmusch films, HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE, and Adam Davidson’s THE LUNCH DATE. I loved the raps (except for “Harlem Ave.”)— I haven’t been this into the lyrics of a movie like this since PATTI CAKE$. I felt the through-line of Rhada needing to deal with her mother’s death could have been integrated better into the plot. That would have made this piece even stronger. Peter Kim was great as Archie. The speech he gives at the end is so great. It may be one of the best supporting role speeches I’ve seen in awhile. (SIDE NOTE: He is Blade from HACKERS — one of the people on the Hacker TV show. Mind — Blown). Reed Birney was such a meta choice for the role, but I think he was way too big for the character. I feel like a different actor could have. The racial stuff worked well with Rhada’s character and her music, but all the stuff surrounding the play and the white people involved with it came out very cartoony because everyone doesn’t get it on such an absurd level. Although I loved the joke that the Female African American biographical musical he is always talking about keeps changing. It comes off as parody, which isn’t in tone to the reset of the film. I just think it happened in such an overt way. I’m not sure what Rhada is trying to say with it. It could honestly be that a lot of things written by white people portray other races as such caricatures, that this film is doing the same thing back to it. I’d love to know more about her intentions regarding the different parts of the film, since it is hard for me as a 30 white guy to assess the POV of a 40 year-old Black woman completely.
