Monsters and Men

Monsters And Men tackles racism and police brutality, but not as the trailer would have you believe. It's a reflective drama in which three different protagonists' lives overlap. It is well acted and a subtle, sensitive film. Plot wise, this is standard fare. But it doesn't lessen the impact of the story. With all three, you get continual close-up's of their anguish and torment. Some may feel the film should be angrier. This isn't Spike Lee, and we have a purposely low-key ending. It's an angry, shouty world, but insightful and delicate can be just as powerful.

Darius Larsen sells loosies, a capital offense in NYC. His death is caught on a shakey 3-minute video. The film looks at how it affected the lives of three people. Interesting film if my timely. Note to self: uploading a video of a crime when applying for a job at the police department is not a good career move. Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

The film starts out well enough, the acting is good and the story nuanced. The starting material and development are powerful, if predictable (nothing wrong with that). Perhaps to counter this, the option was to consecutively follow three different perspectives on the same events, three characters who hardly intersect, each with a clear "role" in terms of message. Although permanently unresolved issues are a key component of the film, in the end for me it felt disjointed due to this, three partial stories not necessarily making up a single great on. But I look forward for more from this director.

Reasonably balanced presentation of this highly charged subject that we, unfortunately, see all too frequently in today's headlines. A strong nuanced performance here by John David Washington as a conflicted NYPD police officer. Also, a solid big screen debut of writer and director Reinaldo Marcus Green. However I didn't like the ambiguous ending here.

Started off well and could have been something but decided to go down the overtly political, racial woe is me line with poor direction and a meandering story that bored me to death - Go woke , go broke , no wonder this movie made nothing at the box office! Another reviewer said this movie makes you think - Yip he is correct, it made me think "why oh, why did I have to watch this crap when I could have been cutting my toenails".