Monsters and Men 2018

     The setting of this film is in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn.  Manny Ortega is an ordinary person out in the evening.  He was at the scene and he filmed the wrongful death of a street hustler in the neighborhood.  He has two choices, release the video and expose himself or keep the video private and be a part of the injustice?  The man was a friend of Manny's and he always had a dollar to give to a child or a friend.      

     In this film, the option was with the plot to follow three main characters to get different perspectives on the same events.  The individual characters rarely interact with each other but each has a clear role with their message.  There are also permanently issues that are unresolved and they are key components.  3 1/2* (I liked this movie) 

 

96 min, Crime directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green with John David Washington, Anthony Ramos, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Chante Adams, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Nicole Beharie, Rob Morgan, Cara Buono, Grant Jaeger, Joshiah Gabriel, Emilia Allen, Brian Pollock, Joe Tippett, J.w. Cortes, Giuseppe Ardizzone.   

Note:  Imdb 5.6 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 85% critic 78% audience, Roger Ebert 3* Nick Allen, The Guardian 4* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, RollingStone 4* out of 5* Peter Travers, CommonSenseMedia.org age 15+, 5* (3* positive, 4* role models, 2* violence, 1* sex, 4* language, 2* drinking, drugs & smoking) Michael Ordona, Amazon 4* out of 5* with 18 reviews.

Special Note:  This is the third film of 2018 with John David Washington playing a policeman.  The other films were BlacKkKlansman and The Old Man & the Gun.  The plot for this film is a direct mirroring of the real-life murders of Mike Brown, Laquan Macdonald, Botham Jean, Philando Castile, Eric Garner, Rekia Boyd, Stpehon Clark, and many others.