Movie Review

Satirical The American Society of Magical Negroes suffers from mid-film pivot

Justice Smith and David Alan Grier in The American Society of Magical Negroes.

Photo courtesy of Focus Features

It was filmmaker Spike Lee who coined the term “magical negro,” a Black character who seems to exist only to help a white character. Lee's examples include The Green Mile and The Legend of Bagger Vance, but you can go back further to films like Driving Miss Daisy, Ghost, and Lilies in the Field.

The new film The American Society of Magical Negroes aims to send up that tired trope by envisioning a world where such a group actually exists, with the purpose of soothing the discomfort of white people to ensure a harmonious existence between the races.

Written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Kobi Libii, the film has a satirical premise that initially seems to work well.

Aren (Justice Smith) is a poor-selling artist who is recruited into the group by Roger (David Alan Grier), who shows him just how long the group has been working to keep the peace.

Aren’s first mission is to work alongside Jason (Drew Tarver), a designer at a tech company called MeetBox, and help him rise up the corporate ladder. Things get complicated, however, when Aren meets Lizzie (An-Li Bogan), a fellow designer, and develops a crush on her. When Jason shows interest in Lizzie, Aren must not only help Jason professionally, but also personally, putting his loyalty to the society to the test.

Aren’s introduction to the society yields a number of funny scenes, including Roger bailing him out of a tense situation with three white people, as well as scenes showing the history of successful members of the society. This set-up seems to promise a series of similar scenes in which Aren will have to learn how to be a successful “magical negro” himself.

Instead, Libii quickly pivots to a story that’s more akin to a rom-com than a satire. The magic that Aren is supposed to possess becomes next to non-existent as he settles into a love triangle with Lizzie and Jason. With a divided focus, it becomes unclear how exactly Aren is supposed to help Jason other than being a type of yes-man, which seems less “magical” than sycophantic.

The film winds up as a classic case of not knowing what to do with a promising premise. Even though Libii checks back in often with Roger and the society, that part of the film doesn’t seem to be that important after the first 30 minutes. The rom-com portion works relatively well, as Aren and Lizzie have good chemistry together, but it too suffers because of the need to keep the other part going.

Smith is a rising star who has appeared in a variety of big and small films in recent years. Even though the story is up-and-down, he is an engaging presence throughout. He’s aided by Grier and Bogan, both of whom put in great supporting performances. Aisha Hinds and Nicole Byer are fun in small parts, and Tarver, Michaela Watkins, and Rupert Friend play clueless in entertaining ways.

The American Society of Magical Negroes may not have accomplished the goal of being a biting satire, but it has more highs than lows thanks to its talented cast. For a more successful look at a similar theme, check out the Oscar-nominated American Fiction.

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The American Society of Magical Negroes opens in theaters on March 15.

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Movie Review

The End of Oak Street can't live up to its Spielberg inspirations

Photo by Daniel McFadden

Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway in The End of Oak Street.

Steven Spielberg is the iconic director of the last 50 years, so it’s no surprise that many other filmmakers have borrowed from his classic films. But most of the time those come in the form of references or homages, not straight up theft, which is what it feels like watching The End of Oak Street play out in front of your eyes.

Set in the early 1980s in an idyllic suburban neighborhood of an unnamed city, Denise (Anne Hathaway) and Greg (Ewan McGregor) are parents to two teenagers, Audrey (Maisy Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery). They’re also possibly heading toward divorce, as Audrey is secretly writing a novel with a thinly-veiled plot about their life, and Brian is cagey about having to earn extra money with a pizza delivery job.

That all gets put on the backburner when a mysterious event takes their entire neighborhood back to the time of dinosaurs. Armed with little more than a shotgun and sledgehammer, Audrey and Brian do their best to keep the family safe in their house. But the longer the ordeal goes on, circumstances force them out onto the streets and into the increasing danger that’s all around them.

Written and directed by David Robert Mitchell, the film tries immensely hard to be like the Spielberg movies its filmmaker clearly adores, but fails at almost every turn. It never earns the broken family in ‘80s suburbia vibes that were prevalent in E.T., going all in right away in the opening scene with a neighborhood block party that feels forced. Other elements like a bully who has it out for Brian, the family dog that disappears, and an angry neighbor come across as the tropes they are and not as organic parts of the plot.

When it finally gets to its dinosaur sequences, they pale in comparison to those found in Jurassic Park. The strange manner in which the dinosaurs appear is a big part of that, but the action involving them forgoes ominous moments that could build tension for those that play up gore in an unexpected way for a PG-13 movie. Many of the attacks have so little emotional meaning that they come off as comical, which is entertaining but in a hollow way.

As if those weren’t enough, Mitchell - perhaps at the behest of producer J.J. Abrams (who made his own Spielbergian film, Super 8) - tries to honor Spielberg in other ways. Just like in Jaws, he employs the use of a split diopter lens, which keeps characters in both the foreground and background in focus. But instead of using it judiciously, it’s brought out in three separate scenes, including a laughable one with the four family members where it turns into overkill.

Hathaway, coming off of a role in The Odyssey that could earn her an Oscar nomination, is the best part of this film. But even her evident skills are dragged down by the ridiculousness of the story, which requires hysterics that even she can’t sell. McGregor can normally be counted on for a good performance, but he gives several line readings with strange cadences that make his already-underwritten character come off worse. Stella and Convery are okay, but their roles are unmemorable overall.

Mitchell and his team can never settle on exactly what type of film they were trying to make, and so even though The End of Oak Street has a few moments that work, they’re surrounded by many others that don’t. In trying to emulate Spielberg - there’s even a blatant Back to the Future (produced by Spielberg) rip-off towards the end - all Mitchell has done is show how difficult it is to be the master.

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The End of Oak Street opens in theaters on August 14.