Rob Peace, 2024.
Written and Directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Starring Jay Will, Mary J. Blige, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jelani Dacres, Camila Cabello, Chance K. Smith, Michael Kelly, Mare Winningham, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Juan Castano, Will Fitz, Lori Hammel, Benjamin Papac, Ian Duff, Max MacKenzie, Caleb Eberhardt, Reggie A. Green, Curt Morlaye, Marjorie Johnson, Robert Manning Jr., Robert Farrior, Rosalynn Coleman, Art McFarland, Jordan Boatman, Andrew Dolan, Alicia Pilgrim, Antu Yacob, Gabby Beans, Noah Epps, Abdul-Latif Ismail, Jolly Swag, Tyler Bourke, aul J. Juhn, Jaden Jajuan Fields, and Daniel Kaj Schlosser.
SYNOPSIS:
An underprivileged, gifted young Black man from Newark reaches Yale University, only for shadows and injustices from his past to threaten his future.
From Oscar-winning actor turned writer/director, Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Rob Peace consistently finds fascinating elements to explore of an underprivileged Black child science and mathematics prodigy who finds himself balancing a full ride to Yale and endlessly trying to clear the name of his presumably wrongfully imprisoned father while turning scientific theories and variables into what feels like equations for social experiments among mixing white and Black, rich and poor together. At a certain point, it then crumbles under the misguided ambition of touring viewers through every high and low of Rob Peace’s (played with charismatic book and street smarts by Jay Will) existence, succumbing to the worst kind of biopic that spends so much time darting across someone’s life to the finish line that the end result is barely scratching the surface of that life.
Naturally, this is frustrating since any of the several aspects of Rob’s life covered here could have made for a rich and detailed character study. Again, the concept of a university student pushing himself to the limit regarding one of the most difficult educations imaginable, trying to keep his word to his mother (an absorbing turn from Mary J. Blige) that he will realize his full potential and not fall victim to the impoverished lifestyle of those within his East Orange, New Jersey centric community, while burying himself in legal books and trying to get his increasingly overbearing and aggressively demanding father out of prison (something he actually succeeds at once before an appeal is immediately filed) and trying to maintain the illusion of regular life in front of his peers and love interest (Camila Cabello), not to mention diving into the lab work itself, is enough right there for a uniquely dynamic experience bursting with conflict and urgency.
To an extent, Chiwetel Ejiofor (who also plays the father, Skeet Douglas) understands this (it does make up the entire middle stretch of the movie, after all), but the elements within also aren’t offered nearly enough time to develop the character, dynamics, and relationships that pop up. Even though this is also a true story (and based on a book written by Jeff Hobbs), some disappointingly generic turns see Rob using his remarkable knowledge and skills to grow some outstanding drugs to sell to a campus of white people who mostly only have access to weaker strands. If it had delved deeper into the science, perhaps it would have been more interesting, but here it is rendered as the usual drug dealing arc leading to a predictable path and third act that arguably could have been excised entirely to limit the Black trauma porn. It would have been effective enough as a pre-ending credits text.
Throughout all of this, there are questions and mysteries of whether or not Skeet did commit the murder he was accused of, dedicating the prologue to that sequence and a younger Rob (Jelani Dacres’s young Rob also has terrifically sweet chemistry with an excitedly proud Chiwetel Ejiofor, notably during a scene that sees the boy doing some complicated math to figure out how many at-bats an MLB player has had so far.) Over time, especially as those close to Rob point out, he doesn’t even seem sure of his father’s innocence, and that relationship is somewhat fractured while also building up to what one would imagine to be an emotional, cathartic climax. There is also genuine emotion there, but the film also transitions into a surface-level examination of Rob’s career as a realtor, further making the case that this movie is trying to do far too much.
The performances here are so solid, especially during a stretch that, once again, feels like it’s taking actual science and applying it to race relations social experiments. It is so intriguing that it’s a shame it’s only a fraction of Rob Peace. Films about overlooked and accomplished individuals such as Rob deserve more focus and a true throughline rather than guiding viewers through important life beats. One could say Chiwetel Ejiofor didn’t quite figure out the proper equation for this biopic.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
Originally published August 14, 2024. Updated August 15, 2024.
