BLACK AND BLUE: Go On The Run With This Cop Drama

Cop thrillers are a dime a dozen these days. Few of them leave a significant and lasting impression, leaning on cliches and predictable beats to tell their tried and true stories involving the enforcers of the law. However, Black And Blue infuses this classic story with considerable life and energy, making it one of the more memorable pleasant surprises of the year thus far.

The story follows a rookie cop (Naomie Harris) who witnesses her fellow police officers committing murder in cold blood, leaving her with no choice but to have to go on the run for survival as she tries to navigate her identity.

Hold Your Breath

Why in the world is Naomi Harris not in more films? She delivers a powerhouse performance as our lead heroine, shifting from confident and carefree to erratic and paranoid with ease in mere seconds. She especially shines when she collides with a local resident (Tyrese Gibson) and forms an alliance in order to survive on the streets of her own neighborhood. Both Gibson and Harris have terrific chemistry and elevate each other throughout.

Gibson in particular is in fine form, putting aside his usual charisma and quirks for a more understated, quiet performance. Also, bonus points for casting the criminally underrated and underused Frank Grillo as the crooked cop hunting Harris’ character down. He’s pitch perfect in the role and made for a more than effective antagonist.

This is tightly paced and executed film. The story hits the ground running and wastes no time putting our lead in precarious situations, elevating and maximizing the tension with each new environment she has to conceal herself within. The film rarely takes its foot off the gas, but when it does we get character beats that are engaging and instrumental to the narrative at play. Characters and old relationships are fleshed out and explored, laying the groundwork for cathartic payoffs during the climax of the story.

The action sequences are especially strong throughout the film. Director Deon Taylor stages and shoots the action beautifully, making sure these beats feel visceral and completely tactile. You can feel every punch, kick, and gunshot, which helps create an immersive and thrilling world to inhabit for nearly two hours. Taylor utilizes each new environment successfully, getting creative with small spaces and household objects. Each action sequence feels wholly different than the last, keeping the proceedings fresh and lively.

The main concern I had going into this film was how the relationship, specifically between police officers and the surrounding Black community, was going to be handled. Fortunately, Taylor and his creative team take a mostly subtle approach to this part of the story, allowing the audience to form their own opinions rather than shove theirs down their throats. There are genuinely powerful scenes tackling this issue head on that feel natural within the context of the story rather than tacked on.

Subtlety Goes A Long Way

Fortunately, there isn’t much that deterred me from the quality of the narrative. Clocking in at almost two hours, the film does feel a tad bit overlong as it nears its conclusion. There is a section just before the climax that loses the propulsive momentum of all that came before it. This throws a wrench into the film’s pacing, but doesn’t hinder it for too long.

The film mostly takes a subtle approach to tackling the aforementioned relationship between the police and the Black community. However, there are a handful of scenes that come off as blunt and heavy-handed, creating more of a distraction than a powerful statement. This is a film that is able to walk that line between the overstated and the nuanced, but it does cross over the line of the former more times than I would’ve cared for.

Black And Blue: Final Thoughts

Black And Blue is a surprisingly engaging cop thriller with serious bite. It has some stellar performances, confident direction, and a sharp story to boot. It may not be perfect, but this is a notable sign that there is still some life left in this dying genre.  It will give you the thrills you seek as well as some questions to ponder long after the credits have finished rolling.

Have you seen Black And Blue yet? If so, let us know your thoughts in the comment box below!

Black And Blue is now playing in theaters nationwide.