Blackbird (2014 film)

Last updated
Blackbird
Blackbird (2014 film) POSTER.jpg
Directed by Patrik-Ian Polk
Screenplay by Rikki Beadle-Blair
Patrik-Ian Polk
Based onBlackbird
1986 novel
by Larry Duplechan
Produced byKeith Louis Brown
Patrik-Ian Polk
Carol Ann Shine
Isaiah Washington
Matthew Young
Starring Mo'Nique
Isaiah Washington
Julian Walker
Kevin Allesee
Gary LeRoi Gray
Nikki Jane
Torrey Laamar
Terrell Tilford
D. Woods
CinematographyEun-ah Lee
Edited byBryan Colvin
Music by Adam Samuel Goldman
Production
companies
KBiz Entertainment
Tall Skinny Black Boy Productions
Distributed by RLJ Entertainment
Release dates
  • February 16, 2014 (2014-02-16)(Pan African Film Festival)
  • April 24, 2015 (2015-04-24)
Running time
99 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Blackbird is a 2014 drama film directed by Patrik-Ian Polk and starring Mo'Nique and Isaiah Washington. [1] The film is adapted from the novel of the same name by Larry Duplechan and was released theatrically on April 24, 2015. [2]

Contents

Premise

Set in a small baptist community in the south of Mississippi, a 17-year-old high school senior and talented singer juggles with his sexuality and religion while also dealing with the disappearance of his younger sister as it tore his family apart.

Cast

Background

Polk initially tried to get the film made several years earlier, with Jussie Smollett cast as the young lead, however financing fell through. [3] When the funding came through years later, he was forced to re-cast because of Smollett's busy schedule on Empire , and struggled to find a black male actor who would portray a gay love story on screen. [3] However, he later met Julian Walker, who is openly gay, and chose to cast him despite his lack of acting experience. [3]

Polk discussed, in an interview with BuzzFeed, the need for more stories featuring gay men who aren't white: [3]

Through my years of filmmaking, we have seen the gay coming-of-age story from every possible white male point of view ... We’ve seen it over, and over, and over.

Release

The film had a successful run on the film festival circuit, winning awards at several LGBT-oriented festivals including Outflix Memphis, Atlanta’s Out On Film Festival, and the Crossroads Film Festival in Polk’s native Mississippi. [2] The film was the closing night gala screening for Los Angeles’ Pan African Film Festival (PAFF), where it won the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature Film. [2]

Reception

Blackbird received mixed to negative reviews from critics. As of August 2020, 40% of the ten reviews compiled on Rotten Tomatoes are positive, with an average rating of 4.6/10. [4] The Hollywood Reporter called it "too all over the map to take seriously". [5] The New York Times said that the film has an "impressive, palpable conviction", although it ultimately "suffers from soapy excesses and narrative disjunctures". [6] Slant Magazine wrote: "Blackbird is, like its main character, too naïve to understand or, at least, to deploy the reparative powers of camp". [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mo'Nique</span> American comedian and actress (born 1967)

Monique Angela Hicks, known mononymously as Mo'Nique, is an American stand-up comedian and actress. She has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award, as well as nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Grammy Award.

<i>Noahs Arc</i> (TV series) Television show filmed in Vancouver

Noah's Arc is an American cable television comedy-drama series that aired for two seasons on the Logo network from October 19, 2005 to October 4, 2006. The show centered on the lives of four African-American gay friends who share personal and professional experiences while living in Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julian Sands</span> British actor (1958–2023)

Julian Richard Morley Sands was an English actor. His break-out role was as George Emerson in A Room with a View (1985), and he also appeared in The Killing Fields (1984), Gothic (1986), Warlock (1989), Arachnophobia (1990), Naked Lunch (1991), Boxing Helena (1993), Leaving Las Vegas (1995), Mercy (2000),The Medallion (2003), Ocean's Thirteen (2007) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011). On television, he portrayed Vladimir Bierko in 24 (2006), Jor-El in Smallville (2009–2010) and voiced Valmont in Jackie Chan Adventures (2000–2002).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jurnee Smollett</span> American actress (born 1986)

Jurnee Diana Smollett is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress appearing on television sitcoms, including On Our Own (1994–1995) and Full House (1992–1994). She gained greater recognition with her role in the critically acclaimed Kasi Lemmons directed film Eve's Bayou (1997), which earned her a Critics' Choice Movie Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jussie Smollett</span> American actor (born 1982)

Jussie Smollett is an American actor and singer. He began his career as a child actor in 1991 debuting in The Mighty Ducks (1992). From 2015 to 2019, Smollett portrayed musician Jamal Lyon in the Fox drama series Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darryl Stephens</span> American actor and author

Darryl Stephens is an American actor and author. He is best known for playing Noah Nicholson on the television dramedy Noah's Arc.

Patrik-Ian Polk is an American director, screenwriter, and producer. Polk, who is gay, is noted for his films and theatre work that explore the experiences and stories of African-American LGBT people. In 2016, Polk was included in the Los Angeles Times Diverse 100 list, which described him as "the man bringing black gay stories to screens large and small".

<i>Punks</i> (film) 2000 American film

Punks is a 2000 film produced by Babyface, directed by Patrik-Ian Polk, and starring Rockmond Dunbar, Seth Gilliam, Renoly Santiago, Jazzmun, and Dwight Ewell.

<i>A Jihad for Love</i> 2007 American documentary film

A Jihad for Love is a 2008 documentary film and was the world's first film on Islam and homosexuality. It took a total of six years to make and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2007. It premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 2008 as the opening documentary film for the Panorama section.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Daniels</span> American director, producer, and screenwriter

Lee Daniels is an American film and television producer, director and screenwriter. His first producer credit was Monster's Ball (2001), for which Halle Berry won the Academy Award for Best Actress, making Daniels the first African-American film producer to solely produce an Oscar-winning film. He made his directorial debut with Shadowboxer in 2005 and has since then directed the films Precious (2009), The Paperboy, The Butler (2013) and The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021). Of these, Precious was the most critically acclaimed, and was nominated for six Academy Awards, including two nominations for Daniels, for Best Director and Best Picture. Other films he has produced include The Woodsman (2004), Tennessee (2008), Pimp (2018) and Concrete Cowboy (2020).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John R. Gordon</span> British writer (born 1964)

John R. Gordon is a British writer. His work – novels, plays, screenplays and biography - deals with the intersections of race, sexuality and class. With Rikki Beadle-Blair he founded and runs queer-of-colour-centric indie press Team Angelica. Although he was a "white person from a white suburb", according to Gordon, in the 1980s he became deeply interested in black cultural figures such as James Baldwin, Malcolm X and Frantz Fanon, and they have influenced his work ever since.

<i>Regular Lovers</i> 2005 film by Philippe Garrel

Regular Lovers is a 2005 French coming-of-age romantic drama film directed by Philippe Garrel and starring Louis Garrel and Clotilde Hesme. Set in 1968, it tells the story of a young couple. The film had its world premiere in the Competition section of the 62nd Venice International Film Festival on 3 September 2005. It was released in France on 26 October 2005.

<i>The Skinny</i> (film) 2012 American film

The Skinny is a 2012 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Patrik-Ian Polk, the creator of the Logo television series, Noah's Arc. It was released on April 6, 2012, in select theaters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Plunkett</span> American actor (born 1981)

Stephen Plunkett is an American actor. He is best known for his performances in the NBC series, Rise, and John Magary's The Mend, which premiered at the 2014 South by Southwest Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Duplechan</span> American novelist

Larry Duplechan is an American novelist. He is best known for his novels Blackbird, adapted in 2014 by Patrik-Ian Polk as a film starring Mo'Nique and Isaiah Washington, and Got 'til It's Gone, which won an award in the Gay Romance category at the 21st Lambda Literary Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman</span> Canadian actor and model (born 1984)

Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman is a Canadian actor, model, and television personality. He is known for appearances in films and television, most notably as Jay in the Lifetime dark comedy-drama series Unreal (2015–2018) and as one of the main judges on the first season of Canada's Drag Race (2020).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck</span> American filmmaking duo

Anna Boden and Ryan K. Fleck are an American filmmaking duo. They are best known for writing and directing Captain Marvel, which grossed over $1 billion and is one of the highest-grossing films of all time. They are also known for their collaborations on the films Half Nelson, Sugar, It's Kind of a Funny Story, and Mississippi Grind.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Seward Johnson III</span> American filmmaker, philanthropist and entrepreneur

John Seward Johnson III is an American filmmaker, philanthropist and entrepreneur. He is a great-grandson of Robert Wood Johnson I and the son of artist John Seward Johnson II.

<i>Eternity: The Movie</i> 2014 film

Eternity: The Movie is a 2014 LGBT music dramedy film directed by Ian Thorpe and screenplay by Thorpe, Joey Abi-Loutfi and Eric E. Staley. The film stars Barrett Crake, Myko Olivier, Eric Roberts, Martin Kove, Jon Gries and Nikki Leonti.

References

  1. Murphy, Mekado (2014-07-23). "Playing at Newfest". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2018-03-16.
  2. 1 2 3 Tiggett, Jai (2015-02-10). "Exclusive: UMC Sets Theatrical Date for Patrik-Ian Polk's 'Blackbird' + New Release Poster + Trailer". IndieWire. Archived from the original on 2015-02-15. Retrieved 2018-03-16.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Filmmaker Patrik-Ian Polk Is Still Telling Definitive Black Gay Stories". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2018-03-16.
  4. "Blackbird (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  5. "'Blackbird': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2018-03-16.
  6. Webster, Andy (2015-04-26). "Review: A Young Man's Voyage, Awash in Taboo Desires, in 'Blackbird'". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2018-03-16.
  7. "Blackbird | Film Review | Slant Magazine". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2018-03-16.