Brian Banks 2018

    Brian is an All-Amrican high school football star committed to playing for USC.  It has been his dream for a long time to play in the NFL.  All his preparations and hopes are halted when he is wrongly convicted and sent to prison.  There is a shocking lack of evidence that Brian committed this crime.  He is railroaded though a broken justice system and sentenced to a decade of prison and probation.  Years later, he fights to clear his name within a system that is still unjust.  With the support of Justin Brooks and the California Innocence Project, Brian fights to reclaim his life and fulfill his dream of playing in the NFL.
     This is a fact based drama but it’s about a he said she said story.  The accuser of the crime doesn’t get to tell her side of the story?  It is really moving with good performances and an important story to tell.  Sometimes everything that is spoken and printed can’t be taken at face value!!  Too many times information gets a skewed treatment or a preconceived stance.  It can take digging to find the real truths.  This film also shows that simple mistakes made during teenage years can impact the rest of your life.
 
99 min, Bio directed by Tom Shadyac and written by Doug Atchison with Aldis Hodge, Greg Kinnear, Sherri Shepherd, Melane Liburd, Tiffany Dupont, Xosha Roquemore, Mystie Smith, Jose Miguel Vasquez, Dorian Missick, Monique Grant, Matt Battaglia, Michael Franti.

Note:  Imdb 7.1 out of 10 with 3109 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes, 61% with 69 critics 97% audience score with 1831 ratings,Roger Ebert 2 1/2* Christy Lemire, Common Sense Media Tara McNamara, 2* out of 5*, age 14+, 2* positive messages, 3* role models, 3* violence, 2* sex, 4* language, 0 consumerism, 1*drinking drugs & smoking, Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 1427 reviews.

Special Note:  Brian Banks went to Long Beach Poly High School and was a part of the prestigious Jackrabbit football team.  He also played against De La Salle and this game was featured in the movie When the Game Stands Tall 2014.  The setting of this film is in Long Beach California but it was filmed in Memphis Tennessee.  Director Tom Shadyac teaches film at the University of Memphis.  In 2018, he opened a climbing gym and community center in the Soulsville neighborhood of South Memphis.  Shadyac’s family also has a long-running history of leadership at St. Jude’s Hospital in Memphis.  This Hospital was founded by Danny Thomas and he was a family friend of the Shadyacs.