There’s a question that I, and most other African American men, ask ourselves, on some level, on most of the days of our lives:
“What do you see when you look at me?”
The new Netflix film Monster is a largely effective legal drama that sets out to answer that question.
Based on the novel by Walter Dean Myers and directed by Anthony Mandler, Monster details the story of a brilliant 17 year old film student who is on trial for a crime that he may or may not have committed.
Trust me: you don’t know how this story is going to turn out.
While the film is anchored by Kelvin Harrison Jr.’s excellent performance in the lead role, he’s nearly out-acted by Academy Award-winner Jennifer Hudson, who plays his mom. If you ever wondered whether Hudson sung her way to her Oscar in Dreamgirls (I’ll admit it: I did), queue this one up and you’ll never wonder about that again. Hudson is transcendent in this riveting new film.
The movie is executive produced by one of the other sexiest men alive, John Legend. (I’m in the group…People Magazine just hasn’t caught up, yet.) And Legend performs a great song, “Fall From Grace,” that plays over the flick’s end credits. (Yeah, I sing, too…but not quite as well as Legend does.)
Monster is marred by only one trope — and it’s a tired one — that I can’t tell you about because it would spoil the ending of the film! I’m dying to talk about it, so hit me up at michaelpcoleman.com after you see it, and we’ll talk!
But even with that single casting faux pax, Monster is more than worth a watch.
Monster is available on Netflix.
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