One of the talented actors and directors, who is endowed with depth and firmness in art is Chiwetel Ejiofor. Through his roles he plays as well as films that he supports, the 12 Years a Slave Oscar nominee and lead actor in this year’s Venom: The Last Dance romp appears to be trying to make us feel emotional by pulling our heartstrings so that we never forget we are human beings.
Again Ejiofor rivets our attention in such subtle yet significant ways with his second directorial effort, Rob Peace. Also co-writer (with Jeff Hobbs) and star of the vehicle which provides a real-life story at once timely, engaging, but only lightly political. Based on Hobbs’ biography The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace, the film tells an absorbing if tragic tale about a young math genius Jay Will playing Rob Peace), who darefully risks his education and promising career for the sake of freeing his imprisoned father (Ejiofor).
In real life Peace got killed at 30 years old during a drug-related shooting. A drama which is both profound and capturing employs relatively uncomplicated means when it comes to storytelling although it could have been cut by about 15 minutes shorter into more perfect performances directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor than it was.
You might remember his first directing effort which was also an Oscar nominee about a little boy overcoming adversities. In The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019), another film co-written by Ejiofor, we follow a thirteen-year-old Malawian boy who inventively saved his family from famine by utilizing unique means. Here all eyes are on Rob Peace whose narration anchors this history for readers.
This movie begins in Orange, New Jersey in 1987. Young Rob (Jelani Dacres) lives with his mother Jackie (Mary J Blige of Mudbound) after their divorce, but his love for his father Skeet never fades. Some of these opening scenes reveal so clearly Rob’s love for his father and his neighborhood, two key things that will affect his future choices. The movie picks up where it left off when it was revealed that the dad committed a double murder. For Jackie, her son has to have the best future and she is ready to fight tooth and nail for him.
A time jump to 1994 reveals another side of Rob (this time played by the wonderful Chance K. Smith). Now a prep school student, he excels in his studies and desperately wants to help his father, whom he believes is innocent. The film merges into parallel creative lanes here. There’s Rob the boy genius entering what would be considered an elite world, and Rob the kid who will never shake his humble roots or even more so, the hardships that ultimately drag along with him. This story telling approach is simple just like Ejiofor uses it effectively in revealing Rob’s interior life. However there’s something else one can marvel at with Ejiofor being an actor as well.
There is no doubt that Ejiofor’s performance is engaging as he plays a broken man who is still determined to go through hell and come out the other side. The actor has always been impressive, but this extraordinarily raw portrayal of Skeet is satisfying and forceful. Jay Will, who was outstanding in Tulsa King and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel also gives a fantastic performance here where we see two kinds of Robs as well as how the young genius manages to belong in two completely different worlds.
Ejiofor knows how to capture these unique pivots nicely — from Rob the Yale molecular biology wiz to Rob the kid who resorts to selling drugs. Then there’s Mary J. Blige who, as always, delights. The singer-actor captures mother Jackie’s mood, demeanor, and fierce love for her child to winning ends. The script may not have allowed her more room to shine, but she lands, sometimes commands, her scenes. It’s easy to feel like you know Jackie on some level with her character ring true with real-life single mothers; which makes Blige’s portrayal all the more brilliant.
Other costars including Gbenga Akinnagbe, Michael Kelly, Mare Winningham and Camila Cabello playing Rob’s girlfriend provide enough creative meat for any loopholes that may exist. However, the third act of the movie drags on just a bit too long. Consequently, viewers wanting a neat ending after an hour and a half will have to wait another thirty minutes. That doesn’t mean it’s bad though because one has got them wondering whether it could even be tighter than what they got here. But editing throughout remains spot on: Hirakubo uses slo-mo effectively among other transitions between timelines and various scenes that are disparate.
Rob Peace exemplifies Chiwetel Ejiofor’s passion for storytelling yet again. Granted lately fans have been buzzing about reports that he might be the villainous Orwell Taylor in MCU’s Venom: The Last Dance. He is credited as playing a military soldier who tracks Eddie and Venom down.
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