![]() At least the writer-director duo prove to be at ease with the material set in the streets of New York (mostly around Queens), with Cochrane capturing the city’s urban dynamics with some sense of visual rhythm, and Bryan vividly bringing to life two rival gangs seeking peace and truce at a time of turmoil. Unfortunately, it loses track of its narrative priorities elsewhere, both due to an overstuffed screenplay that superfluously insists upon giving everyone a voice and Pete Talamo’s scattershot editing, which further convolutes a story that is already bursting at the seams. Part of “Equal Standard” wrestles with examining this case from various angles. ![]() Despite being a Blue, similar troubles find Chris soon enough, when a white cop, Peter McKenzie (Rob Minutoli), confronts and searches him out of nowhere one night, refuses to believe the legitimacy of his police credentials and turns the confrontation violent, with Chris fatally shooting him out of self defense after getting injured by a gunshot himself. ![]() As Chris, a good cop in a barrel of bad apples, he puts forth a performance that is in equal parts authentic and tender.īefore the movie’s chief incident changes his life forever, we observe Chris as he uses his authority for the good of his people while the world outside continues to react to the news of an innocent black man nonsensically and fatally shot by a white police officer. Thankfully, Truvillion in one of the leading parts is an exception to this overarching shortcoming. The other major limitation here is the wide-ranging quality of acting and the wooden delivery of the already clumsy dialogue that makes large portions of “Equal Standard” sound like a corporate training video designed to educate viewers on critical societal issues. How the Kavanaugh Hearings Informed 'Law & Order: SVU's' Storytelling 'The Masked Dancer' Premiere Reveals Identity of the Disco Ball: Here's the Star Under the Mask Ice-T Tide Commercials Bring New Spin Cycle to Laundry Ads A considerable part of the problem is Bryan’s on-the-nose writing that over-explains the film’s ideas at every turn. As the doting husband and wife exchange their daily goodbyes before taking off for their high-risk professions, there is so much weight and emphasis placed on the concerned Jackie when she says “Be safe” that you prophetically know Chris is soon going to need that advice.Īiming to be “The Wire” of the Black Lives Matter era with a multi-pronged yarn penned by first-time feature writer Taheim Bryan, “Equal Standard” sadly exhibits a consistent lack of restraint while the story widens its scope and stakes, falling notably short of its well-intentioned ambitions to honor multiple viewpoints amid rising racial tensions. There in the sun-dappled kitchen of the happy Jones family, Detective Chris (Tobias Truvillion), Sergeant Jackie (Syleena Johnson) and their adorable daughter lovingly go about their rosy morning routine, while an over-sentimental score embellished with stark notes of caution (one of the film’s various recurring motifs of unsubtlety) accompanies the perfect picture. Overlong and erratically paced, Brendan Kyle Cochrane’s New York City-based “ Equal Standard” opens with a self-conscious scene that heavy-handedly hints at an impending tragedy.
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