Rob Peace (2024) probably one of the best movies I have seen this year, I say one of the best because its not perfect and not the best, cant say its better than Dune: Part Two as a movie itself even though they are not on the same genre. Chiwetel Ejiofor the director of this film is none other than the lead actor of "12 Years a Slave" and it is a true story that will touch your heart and stimulate your brain. I went in with this movie only knowing its based on real events and nothing else, I left feeling as if I’d been through the ringer. This movie is multi leveled, starting from the fact that it is a story about Rob who tries to survive in a society that is against him, but if you look a bit deeper it is posing some fundamental questions about destiny, kin and the rags to riches narrative.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10740926/
- Platform: Amazon
RottenTomatoes Rating
It’s the late 1980s in East Orange, New Jersey, not the nicest neighborhood, there is the protagonist Rob Peace, a highly intelligent young man but he’s definitely in a lets say "not the best" circumstances you can imagine. His mom Jackie is working her life away to make ends meet by working several jobs while his dad Skeet is involved in some illicit activity. But here is the hook, Rob has the mind that could revolutionize this world if given an opportunity to apply it. We follow Rob on the journey from New Jersey through to the collegiate Yale University, he gets a full scholarship at one of the most prestigious schools in the United States, but there is where things get tricky. As Rob is preparing to fly he is informed that his dad has been arrested for the double murder, the moment his bring future is about to start there is this big bump on the road to success.
Now for Rob on one hand, he is going to study molecular biology in Yale University and wants to cure cancer and become a man who will make a difference, on the other hand he is struggling to establish his dad’s innocence and secure his release from prison. It must be hard for anyone been able to concentrate at any point with such pressure, its murder, double murder, that's an easy life sentence we talking. The movie is also very effective in illustrating how much of the time Rob is torn in various directions between his life and his fathers. He is one moment teaching at Newark with students who have never probably had to think twice about where their next meal would come from and the next moment he is in his old neighborhood trying to scam some dough for his dad’s lawyer fees, talk about having your life upside down for someone else acts.
If you know a bit about movies and you see the faces of the cast and the director you know the crew is fire. Jay Will as Rob, he got it, he has the makings of a star, pulls a great job with his role, his acting looks natural, never force, he just flows with the character. Rob’s mom, is Mary J. Blige, she really sings and she’s not just pretending to act. There is this scene where she is trying to make Rob to look forward into the future and you could sense her love and her fear for him passing through the screen, may be this is just Ejiofor passing all this great acting into the cast hands. And Chiwetel Ejiofor doing double duty as the director of the film and being Rob’s father, talk about a powerhouse. He has successfully managed to portray Skeet in a way that you can at the same time like him and at the same time want to strangle him for putting Rob through all that pain and suffering.
From my interpretation of the movie I think its a great example about how it exposes the issues of the racism system and the extremely high expectations that are put on children from troubled background when they manage to get into a prestigious school like Yale, in this case also dealing with the family struggle of Rob who is studying and trying to take care of his family and of course been force into some sort of side business due to life situations, in Rob case its suffice to say that he has a very unique way of earning for his lawyer fees. A multi level movie that strikes you from different angles, in the surface it’s the story of Rob who is trying to succeed in a world that is out to get him, bu also if we look a little closer, it is posing some pretty profound queries, like how far does our background determine how our life will turn out to be? Is it possible to run away from one’s past? But then when does our responsibility towards family become more of a burden rather than a motivation to succeed?
There are a lot of scenes in this film that made me emotional, you know there’s a scene where Rob is in a Yale class and all the kids around him are probably never had to worry about such mayor problems his father puts him through and you can just see the pressure of two worlds on his shoulders. This made me wonder about all the Rob Peaces out there, struggling to overcome barriers that are difficult to overcome. But the ending of this movie really brings in closure to everything in it, you know the one which is both a punch in the stomach and yet completely expected. This is the kind of climax where movie has been leading from the start, even when you are desperately wanting things to turn out otherwise. It puts one in a position to consider how the world can sometimes be against you even when one is intelligent and a hardworking individual.
Something that got me by surprise is how all of the sudden the movie start connecting all the problems we have seen Rob faced its so simple and logical but with movies now days its like asking too much, but again this might be just Ejoifor art at his best. It is like all those strings, his intelligence, his commitment to his family, the force of his roots, everything comes together on this perfect storm. This movie at the end makes you think and feel there is still hope in our society and to some will probably leave you with the feeling that we can still make a difference and at the same time makes you feel said about it when you reflect on it, then put up your phone, open any social media app and everything comes back down, its not an easy world the one we living in today and the older you get, you things happening are impossible but its like humanity is going backwards.
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