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Monday, April 9, 2012

MOVIE REVIEW
Life Love Soul
After Tragedy, An Estranged Father And Son Try Uneasy Reconciliation In The Big Apple

Chad L. Coleman as Earl and Robbie Tate-Brickle as Roosevelt in Noel Calloway's drama "Life Love Soul".  Noel Calloway Films/Kingdom Come Productions
    
by Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com        Follow popcornreel on Twitter FOLLOW                                           
Monday, April 9, 2012

Noel Calloway's earthy, colorful "Life Love Soul", set in the Big Apple, is a well-acted drama about parents and the recurring mistakes made through generations of family.  At its center is the volatile relationship between 17-year-old high school honor student Roosevelt Jackson (Robbie Tate-Brickle) and estranged father Earl Grant (Chad L. Coleman).  Roosevelt, or "Rose", as he's known, is forced to stay with Earl and his wife Jennifer (Tamara Fay) after the untimely death of Rose's mother Renee (Tami Roman).  Rose's grades remain virtually straight-As despite Renee's passing.

Earl is bitter, resentful of his own fate: a father of a son he didn't want, and the former husband of Renee, who gave him the heave-ho and raised their sons Rose and Clinton (Jian Pierre Rice) while putting herself through law school.  Rose, who sometimes wears the expressions of a deer in headlights, sees Earl as the absentee father he's been, while the polite and sincere Jennifer, well played by Ms. Fay, has to endure her risible husband while playing stepmother to Rose.

"Life Love Soul" starts very well, establishing a tender, affectionate bond between Renee and Rose.  It's a warm, coherent beginning, but Mr. Calloway's screenplay and film are choppy and abrupt thereafter.  Scenes transition awkwardly, quickly shifting characters' moods from one scene to the very next without adequate development or pacing.  It's a shame because the actors, especially Mr. Coleman, Ms. Fay and Ms. Roman do so very well.  A subplot involving Renee's aunt Carey (Egypt Sherrod), as an adversary to Earl doesn't adequately fit and stack the deck against Earl.  Other areas of the script could have been developed and the Carey-Earl scenes dispensed with.  There are good slices of conversation in the film but they are few and far between.

In Mr. Calloway's film the only real father figure Rose has is his teacher Mr. Roundtree (Jamie Hector), an amiable sort who encourages Rose to do the right thing with his future when Rose meets Kyna (Mia Michele), a fellow student he takes a liking to.  Their exchanges are charismatic and sincere, and some exchanges between actors work for their intimacy and truth.  The talented Mr. Tate-Brickle takes a measured, realistic and even-keeled approach to Rose, giving him instant likability.  Rose is gifted and has a bright road ahead.  All he needs is guidance and a family that truly loves him. 

"Life Love Soul" is a coming-of-age tale that is contained yet ambles through its dozen or so characters including singer-songwriter Valerie Simpson as Rose's school's principal.  Each character more or less has a cross to bear.  Some learn the lessons of life.  Others need more time.  Unfortunately Mr. Calloway doesn't give us enough time to get acquainted with his more relevant characters.  Whether it is due to the inevitable constraints of independent filmmaking and a small budget or just a lack of sustained execution, Mr. Calloway's drama feels rushed and incomplete.

Had the director invested additional energy in building the story and expanding some scenes more thoroughly, "Life Love Soul" could have been the great film it deserved to be, rather than the average one that it is.

With: Allen West, Terri J. Vaughn.

(Note: "Life Love Soul" opens this Friday exclusively in: Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Jersey, New York City and Washington D.C.)

"Life Love Soul" is not rated by the Motion Picture Association Of America, though it contains brief violence, sexuality, language and mature thematic issues.  The film's running time is one hour and 32 minutes.

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