The superficial drama in Everyday Black Man is between a steady, even-handed old-timer and a smooth-talking newcomer, but closer to its heart is a struggle for black identity, and the faces that come to define it in American life. It is certainly a well-intentioned film, with an ambitious civic-mindedness that seeks undo nearly every negative impression of the black community that has ever befallen it, and it is not for lack of trying if it falls short. Rather, it is almost too ambitious, with its high-minded aspirations obscuring some of its dramatic nuances and preventing it from fully fleshing out as an interpersonal drama. Indeed, with the intentions of the film-makers as clear as they are throughout the whole film, it’s surprising that the film is as effective as it is, but this is mostly due to Henry Brown’s performance as Moses.
Moses is a small-time shopkeeper of a fruit and vegetable store that might have seen better days, but also very well might have not. He does his best though, acting as a father figure to both Claire (Tessa Thompson), a young woman in his charge, and Sonny (Corey Jackson), who helps out in the store. When Malik (Omari Hardwick), a young, handsome representative from the local mosque, comes by with a promise of money in exchange for usage of his store, and a sharing of the profits from his sweets (previously unnecessary in a fruit stand), Moses is skeptical, but eventually accedes under the promise of new funds and community development. But Malik’s religiosity is actually a front for his drug business, a particularly sore spor for Moses, and his inroads in community development are part of his cynical grab for power. Moses figures this out long before anyone else does, and then takes it upon himself to halt Malik’s plan.
Henry Brown is a fine actor, and given the space to roam that he is here, it becomes obvious just how underused he’s been in film. Given the ease with which he carries the film’s entire moral compass, it’s not unthinkable that he could take roles typically occupied by the likes of Keith David and Morgan Freeman. He is compelling as a moralizer, but he is never anything other than that: a vessel for writer/director Carmen Madden to express her thoughts on exactly what is right and wrong in the black community. But if Moses’s growth is stunted by the film’s need to lean on him for moral support, Malik’s is all but completely denied by the film’s need to vilify him. He, along with all-but-silent companion Yousef (Mo), embody every myth that black leaders have tried to dispel about their community, and every negative attribute that white racists have long used to personify blacks as the shapeless others, devoid of individual characteristics. They are drug dealers, hostile to the very notion of whiteness (they are especially fond of the old moniker ‘Uncle Tom’), and despicable in their treatment of children and women. Though the film is careful to outline that the two of them are not actually Muslim, it doubtlessly gets mileage from categorizing them as religious outsiders in the community. To top it all off, Malik is selling sweets, all but tempting you to regard them as fiendish tempters, much in the way that the devil was. If Brown’s performance as Moses provides much needed humanity to film’s notions of good, Malik’s broad stroke of evil manages to undercut it, and make it seem narrow-minded and reactionary.
The film leads, predictably, to a confrontation between Malik and Moses, and though it is violent in nature, it’s not played as a rousing set-piece; rather, it’s a believable series of evemts that feels like it could plausibly happen. This is both the right and wrong way to conclude the film. While the lack of an explosive payoff fits comfortably with the rest of the film, the refusal to give into its most base instincts feels like something of a misdirection. Even though it is very much in keeping with Moses’s nature not to lower himself to that level, his interplay with Malik has primed us as an audience to want exactly that. As a result, the high-minded virtues that provide the story’s bedrock end up feeling kind of shallow, or at least compromised, and the vindication or failure of Moses’s values something less than it feels like they should be.
Bonus Features
A trailer and a behind the scenes featurette are included.
"Everyday Black Man" is on sale February 1, 2011 and is rated R. Drama. Written and directed by Carmen Madden. Starring Corey Jackson, Henry Brown, Mo, Omari Hardwick, Tessa Thompson.
