What we have in the misbegotten mess called Kings is a film of countless good intentions one that starts going bad in its first scene, gets worse form there and then dissolves into pure chaos. How does this happen given the talented crew involved? Welcome to #Movies 101 where nobody knows nothin.
Halle Berry thats right, the Oscar winner stars as Millie, a glam-looking single foster mother of eight kids living in the racial hothouse of South Central Los Angeles circa 1992, when the Rodney King trial helped spark the L.A. riots. Daniel The James Bond of Choice for Every Millennial Craig costars as Obie, her smitten neighbor and a love interest to root for. Or he would be, if he wasnt such a nutjob drunk given to walking around naked and firing his shotgun in the air when rioters and police piss him off.
Hear Nick Cave, Warren Ellis' New Songs for Halle Berry Film 'Kings'
The title is a nod to two Kings Rodney and Martin Luther which tells us immediately that this drama aims to tackle major themes through regular citizens caught up in the melee. Writer-director Deniz Gamze Ergven, whose 2016 debut feature Mustang won a much deserved Oscar nomination as Best Foreign Film, is a Turkish filmmaker based in France. And she researched her screenplay by interviewing eye-witnesses. The films comedic tone (wait till you watch Obie tossing furniture off his balcony) is all Ergvens idea, an absurdist twist so daring you root for it to work.
But it doesnt work not at all. Instead, it throws Kings into a tailspin from which it never recovers. The movie begins with a recreation of an igniting incident the acquittal of South Korean convenience store owner Soon Ja Du for shooting 15-year-old Latasha Harlins for trying to steal a a bottle of orange juice. Later, news clips, including the brutal Rodney King beating, are inserted to anchor the film to harsh reality. Total pandemonium ensues as Ergven cuts to Millies erotic dreams (!), Obies lunatic behavior and a risible moment when a white cop handcuffs these unlikely lovers to a traffic stand.
Kings is one of those social-issue duds that inspire forgiving audiences to say, Well, at least it has its heart in the right place. Guess what? Thats not enough. The filmmaker sets up Millie as a Mother Teresa of the hood, willing to take in abandoned children of all ages, races and sexes. When needed, Obie even babysits. Its unbelievable to a fault. Theres no blaming the young actors, notably Lamar Johnson as Jesse, the eldest of Millies brood, and Kaalan KR Walker as William, as the bad influence who spurs Millies kids on a shoplifting spree. But their stories seem less patterned after actual behavior than bogus saints-and-sinners melodrama. In the end, the movie traps its characters and a piece of momentous history in a crazyquilt of random action, irrelevant humor and questionable purpose. Were calling bullshit all around.
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