Urbanworld Film Festival Archives

Review: ‘The Honorable Shyne,’ starring Moses ‘Shyne’ Barrow

November 17, 2024

by Carla Hay

Moses “Shyne” Barrow in “The Honorable Shyne” (Photo courtesy of Andscape/Hulu)

Directed by Marcus A. Clarke

Culture Representation: Taking place primarily in New York City, Belize, and Israel, the documentary film “The Honorable Shyne” features a predominantly black group of people (with some white people and Latin people) discussing the life and career of Moses “Shyne” Barrow, a rapper-turned-politician.

Culture Clash: Barrow (who was changed his first name from Jamal to Moses, after he became an Orthodox Jew) spent more than eight years in prison in New York, for a controversial shooting that involved entertainer/business mogul Sean Combs, and ex-convict Barrow has reinvented himself as a politician in Belize.

Culture Audience: “The Honorable Shyne” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in documentaries about hip-hop stars from the late 1990s/early 2000s and stories about people who reinvent themselves after experiencing scandalous downfalls.

Moses “Shyne” Barrow (front row center) in “The Honorable Shyne” (Photo courtesy of Andscape/Hulu)

“The Honorable Shyne” doesn’t reveal anything groundbreaking about former rapper Moses “Shyne” Barrow and the 1999 shooting scandal that sent him to prison. But this carefully curated documentary has some interesting interviews, which don’t include his ex-mentor Sean Combs. Barrow is currently a politician in his native country of Belize, which is south of Mexico. “The Honorable Shyne” does a fairly capable job of balancing the “before prison” and “after prison” aspects of Barrow’s story. The movie gives a bare minimum of information about what Barrow experienced while in prison, and some details of his post-prison life have inexplicably been left out of the documentary. “The Honorable Shyne” had its world premiere at the 2024 Urbanworld Film Festival.

Directed by Marcus A. Clarke, “The Honorable Shyne” greatly benefits from having Barrow participate in the documentary, because most people watching will want to get his perspective of the many controversies in his life. Barrow’s biggest scandal happened in New York City on December 27, 1999, when Barrow (who was 21 years old at the time), Combs and actress/singer Jennifer Lopez (who was dating Combs at the time) were involved in a gun shooting at a nightspot called Club New York. At the time, Barrow was an up-and-coming rapper who was signed to Combs’ Bad Boy Records.

Witness statements and testimonies vary, but the general consensus is that a convicted felon named Matthew “Scar” Allen got into an argument with Combs. Guns were drawn. Shots were fired. Three people who weren’t involved in the argument ended up getting gunshot injuries. The worst injury happened to Natania Reuben, who was shot in the face.

Reuben has not changed her eyewitness account that Combs was the person who shot her. Combs and Barrow denied that they shot anyone during this incident. Barrow, Combs and Lopez fled the scene and were all arrested by police. Barrow did not change his story: He said he pulled out his gun but didn’t shoot anyone. Lopez was ultimately not charged with any crime. “The Honorable Shyne” does not mention if the filmmakers attempted to interview Combs or Lopez for this documentary.

Combs and Barrow went on trial in 2001, for attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of an illegal weapon. Combs was acquitted of all the charges, while Barrow was found guilty of assault, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of an illegal weapon. Barrow was sentenced to 10 years in prison, served eight-and-a-half years, and was deported to Belize (where he was born) when he was released from prison in 2009.

“The Honorable Shyne” tells Barrow’s story in chronological order, so this shooting scandal isn’t covered in detail until about halfway through the documentary. Most of his biographical information in the documentary is already public knowledge. Barrow was born on November 8, 1978, in Belize City, the largest city in Belize. His first name at birth was Jamal, but he later changed his first name to Moses after he converted to Judaism in the early 2010s.

His family history is emotionally complicated because he grew up with the stigma of having a father who didn’t really want to acknowledge him and wasn’t in his life as a parent for all of Jamal’s childhood. His biological father Dean Barrow, a politician in Belize, cut off contact with Jamal when Jamal was a child, due to pressure from the woman who would become his wife and the mother of Dean’s other children. Jamal’s mother Frances Myvette was never married to Dean Barrow.

Myvette and Dean Barrow are each interviewed separately in the documentary. Dean admits that he was mostly an absentee father during Jamal’s childhood because politics was his life’s main priority. He also expresses regret over hurtful things he said and did at the time about Jamal being an illegitimate child. For example, he refused to sign Jamal’s birth certificate and often acted like the children he had with his wife were the only children of his who mattered. Myvette describes how the pain of this rejection affected Jamal, who was a rebellious child who got into trouble but had a creative and sensitive side.

When Jamal was 3 years old, his mother moved to the United States, while he stayed in Belize and was raised by his mother’s brother Michael Finnegan (who is interviewed in the documentary) and Dean Barrow’s sister Denise. In 1986, Jamal moved to the U.S. to live with his mother. They lived in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. He came along at a time when hip-hop was exploding in the mainstream, and New York was at the epicenter of hip-hop.

Derrick Castillo Jr., a friend of Jamal/Shyne during their childhoods in Brooklyn, describes him in the documentary as “that guy you didn’t want to get into an altercation with. He was a hoodlum.” On the other hand, was he a hoodlum with a heart? People in the documentary also describe him has having a generous side to his personality.

A turning point in Jamal’s life happened when he beat up a man who robbed a neighbor. Jamal was shot out of revenge for this beating. And it was enough for Myvette to move herself and Jamal out of the Brooklyn’s rough Flatbush neighborhood. By the time Jamal was a teenager, he was regularly writing rhymes and beats, with dreams of becoming a rapper. His rapper name became Shyne.

One of his idols was Jay-Z, who was signed to Def Jam Records at the time. A story told in the documentary is how Shyne boldly approached Jay-Z to give him a demo of Shyne’s recordings. Shyne asked Jay-Z if Jay-Z had a gun in his possession and told him that if Shyne’s demo wasn’t the best demo Jay-Z ever heard, then Jay-Z could shoot Shyne right then and there. This bizarre statement got Jay-Z’s attention, but he ultimately threw away the demo, according to what people say in the documentary.

One person who made a tremendous impact early on in Shyne’s rap career was DJ Clark Kent, who is interviewed in the documentary. (Kent died of colon cancer on October 24, 2024, at the age of 58.) “He was extremely confident, extremely eager,” Kent says about Shyne in the documentary.

In 1998, Kent was working on the Notorious B.I.G.’s posthumous album “Born Again” for Bad Boy Records when he introduced Shyne to Combs. Like many entertainers in hip-hop, Combs has had multiple stage names and nicknames. Combs’ nicknames have included Puff Daddy, Puffy, P. Diddy, Diddy and Love.

Shyne made enough of a name for himself in the New York rap scene that there was a bidding war to sign him. Def Jam offered Shyne the most money—reportedly $2 million, which was unheard of at the time for an unknown rapper who never recorded an album. Shyne ultimately decided to sign with Bad Boy because he felt more of a personal connection to Combs. This alliance would bring both highs and lows to Shyne that still have repercussions to this day.

“The Honorable Shyne” dutifully chronicles how Shyne became a hit artist before and after his imprisonment, during a time when record companies wanted rappers to have a “criminal” image to exploit so they could market the artists as having “street cred.” Ironically, Shyne could not fully enjoy the success of these hits because he was locked up in prison at the time. Although his deep voice and swaggering style got some comparisons to the Notorious B.I.G. (also known as Biggie Smalls), Shyne was much more of a sex symbol than the Notorious B.I.G., who died in an unsolved shooting murder in 1996.

Shyne has only two studio albums: His 2000 debut album “Shyne” (released on Bad Boy Records) and 2004’s “Godfather Buried Alive,” an album released on Def Jam. Both albums debuted in the Top 5 of the Billboard 200 album chart and were certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Shyne’s singles from his first album are “Bad Boyz,” “That’s Gangsta” and “Bonnie & Shyne.” His second album yielded the singles “More or Less” and “Jimmy Choo.”

But loyalty in the music business can be fickle, which Shyne found out the hard way during his trial. In the documentary, he claims that he took the fall for crimes he didn’t commit because he didn’t want to be a snitch. Although he refuses to name who’s guilty of the crimes that sent him to prison, he will only say that Combs distanced himself from Shyne and essentially abandoned Shyne. Before the trial, it wasn’t Combs who bailed out Shyne but it was Shyne’s friend Manny Halley, who put up his own house for collateral for the bail. Halley is one of the people interviewed in the documentary.

“The Honorable Shyne” has interviews with Ian Niles and Murray Richman, who were Shyne’s attorneys who represented him in the trial. Richman says that Shyne’s biggest mistake was not getting rid of the gun after the shooting incident. Shyne doesn’t disagree with that opinion, but he also says that at the time, all he was thinking about was taking out the gun to protect Combs during that nightclub argument. In retrospect, Shyne believes that his attorneys gave up on him because they were up against Combs’ celebrity and legal “dream team” (which included Johnnie Cochran), who were determined to put all of the blame on Shyne.

By the time Shyne was released from prison and deported to Belize in 2009, he had no record deal, and he was considered a “has-been” in the music industry. His uncle Michael describes Shyne as being a shell of his former self (physically and emotionally) right after being released from prison. Shyne seemed lost and unsure of what he wanted to do with his life. By this time, Shyne’s father Dean had became Belize’s first black prime minister in 2008, and he continued as Belize’s prime minister until 2020.

Shyne says that his journey toward self-discovery led him to live in Israel from 2010 to 2013, which was the period of time that he converted to Orthodox Judaism and changed his first name to Moses. He says that Orthodox Judaism helped him keep his sanity and turned his life around. As an Orthodox Jewish rapper, Shyne released a few songs in hopes of making a comeback in the music industry, but those songs were poorly received. The documentary includes a montage of other rappers making fun of and insulting Shyne’s post-prison songs in various radio interviews.

Shyne says that during his time out of the spotlight, it was hard to see many other rappers—such as Combs, Jay-Z and 50 Cent—go on to even greater fame and fortune than he was able to accomplish. There’s no doubt that Shyne’s rap career was cut short because of his incarceration, but it’s debatable if he would have gone on to become a superstar if he hadn’t been in prison. Plenty of artists have been signed to major record companies, only to get dropped by these record companies and then fade into obscurity.

After deciding to retire as a rapper and moving back to Belize in 2013, Moses reinvented himself as an activist for the working-class people of Belize, and he became a politician in the Belize United Democratic Party. He reconnected with his father Dean. In 2020, Moses was elected as a member of the Belize House of Representatives for Mesopotamia, a position that was held by his uncle Michael Finnegan from 1993 to 2020. In 2022, Moses became the leader for the Opposition, who is the leader of the largest political party in the Belize’s House of Representatives that is not in government.

Moses says of mending his relationship with his father: “He’s not the perfect father, but he’s the father I needed.” Belize politician Juliet Thimbriel comments in the documentary on Shyne’s success as a politician: “Shyne worked for where he is.” However, Belize journalist Jules Vasquez has a different opinion, by saying that Shyne “benefited from nepotism.” Regardless of how Shyne came into power in politics, his friends such as rabbi Jeff Seidel say in the documentary that Shyne has a natural charisma that attracts people.

After Shyne got out of prison, Shyne’s on-again/off-again relationship with Combs included sometimes cordial reunions (such as performing together on stage at the 2022 BET Awards), but their friendship was never the same again after the shooting scandal. Most of the documentary interviews of Shyne were done in 2021 and 2022. However, toward the end of the documentary, there’s a newer interview where Shyne comments on Combs’ 2024 federal indictment and arrest on various criminal charges (including sex trafficking) and the various civil lawsuits filed against Combs by numerous people claiming he committed rape and other forms of assault and sex crimes.

In an interview done after these criminal charges and lawsuits were filed, Shyne is now the one publicly distancing himself from Combs. In May 2024, CNN made public a 2016 hotel security video of Combs viciously assaulting then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura (one of the people who filed a quickly settled lawsuit in 2023) in a hotel hallway. Combs made a public apology for the assault (after he had denied months earlier that he ever assaulted Ventura), but the damage was done. In September 2024, Combs was arrested on various sex crimes and was held in jail without bail.

In the documentary, Shyne says that seeing the video of Combs beating and kicking Ventura made him decide to never associate himself with Combs again. Shyne also says he’s put the music business behind him and has other priorities. “I’m completely focused on my charity to transform Belize,” he comments. Shyne expresses a certain amount of pride when he says that even though he went to prison for crimes he didn’t commit, he never ratted out anyone. It’s debatable whether or not this type of “loyalty” was worth all the years he spent locked up in prison.

Still, “The Honorable Shyne” doesn’t really answer lingering questions. Combs’ history of violence and intimidation have been well-documented since he became a celebrity in the 1990s. How much did Shyne really know about this corruption behind the scenes when he was signed to Bad Boy Records? Even if Shyne won’t answer those types of questions, viewers are left with the impression that the documentary filmmakers didn’t really want to probe or investigate.

The documentary also has very little information about Shyne’s love life before and after prison. Shyne briefly mentions that he had a rivalry with Bad Boy Records rapper Mase because they were both dating singer/actress Brandy at the same time. Shyne is now a married father (he’s shown frolicking on the beach with his wife and daughter in the documentary’s last scenes), but “The Honorable Shyne” provides no details and doesn’t have commentary from Shyne about his life as a husband or father. His wife is not interviewed, most likely to maintain her privacy.

The documentary’s most insightful (but somewhat lightweight) stories about Combs are told by Combs’ former bodyguard Gene Deal, who was at Club New York on the night of the shooting. Deal obviously knows more than he is saying, but doesn’t give any further information about what happened during the shooting incident that isn’t already in court testimony and news reports. His comments are mostly quips and anecdotes that don’t reveal anything that would change any legal cases.

In the documentary, Deal says that Combs used religion to rehabilitate Combs’ public image while Combs was waiting to go on trial for the nightclub shooting. Deal says half-jokingly that he and Combs spent more time in churches than at Bad Boy headquarters during this period of time. Other people in the documentary also mention that Combs’ celebrity status made it easier for people to believe that he was not guilty of the charges.

Deal also tells a bizarre but amusing story about going with Combs to Central Park on the day that the trial began. Before going to the courthouse, Combs was in the park and met with an unidentified man who appeared to bless Combs with sage smoke. Combs then climbed into an animal cage and then took out a dove and released it into the air. But the dove died and plopped on the ground. Deal said this dead bird was an omen, and he somewhat hints that this looked like some kind of pagan ritual.

Other people interviewed in the documentary are Shyne’s former manager Don Pooh, former Def Jam executive Kevin Liles, Shyne’s aunt Diane Finnegan, barber Mark Topper, former Bad Boy executive Cheryl Fox, Shyne’s friend Jackie Rowe, radio personality Charlamagne Tha God, rapper N.O.R.E., music executive Steven Victor, singer Faith Evans, minister/activist Conrad Tillard, artist/producer DJ Khaled, business executive Shawn “Pecas” Costner, reggae artist Barrington Levy, Shyne’s billionaire friend Jeffrey Schottenstein, Belize politician Tony Herrera, professor Lewis Gordon of the University of Connecticut, and former St. Lucia prime minister Allen Chastenet.

“The Honorable Shyne” is a very watchable documentary, but it doesn’t take enough risks to go beyond the surface to give revealing insights into the relationship between Shyne and Combs that altered the course of Shyne’s life. Evans—who was married to the Notorious B.I.G. and who was a longtime associate of Combs because she was signed to Bad Boy—is only quoted in the documentary with this generic comment: “Bad Boy was very much like a family for a very long time.”

The documentary works on a nostalgia level for fans of early 2000s hip-hop. It also works as a “where are they now” biography. But don’t expect the documentary to have Shyne talking about what really went on behind the scenes when he was close to Combs. “The Honorable Shyne” tells an inspiring redemption story but ultimately looks like a promotion for Shyne’s next career ambition to become prime minister of Belize.

Hulu will premiere “The Honorable Shyne” on November 18, 2024.

Review: ‘Unstoppable’ (2024), starring Jharrel Jerome, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Peña, Don Cheadle and Jennifer Lopez

November 16, 2024

by Carla Hay

Jharrel Jerome and Johnni DiJulius in “Unstoppable” (Photo courtesy of Amazon Content Services)

“Unstoppable” (2024)

Directed by William Goldenberg

Culture Representation: Taking place from 2006 to 2011, mostly in Arizona, the dramatic film “Unstopabble” (a biopic of disabled champion wrestler Anthony Robles) features a predominantly Latin and black cast of characters (with some white people) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: Anthony Robles goes from being a champion wrestler in high school to having the odds stacked against him when he experiences rejections and tougher competition in college-level wrestling.

Culture Audience: “Unstoppable” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, wrestling movies, and biopics about people who overcome major challenges.

Jharrel Jerome and Jennifer Lopez in “Unstoppable” (Photo by Ana Carballosa/Amazon Content Services)

“Unstoppable” tells the unique and inspiring story of disabled champion wrestler Anthony Robles, but this biopic is bogged down by formulaic writing and directing. Good performances from the cast members are the movie’s saving graces. It’s not a bad movie, but the quality of the filmmaking isn’t quite up to the level of “award-worthy” that the filmmakers clearly intended. “Unstoppable” had its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival and made the rounds at other film festivals in 2024, such as AFI Fest and the Urbanworld Film Festival.

Directed by William Goldenberg, “Unstoppable” was written by Eric Champnella, Alex Harris and John Hindman. The screenplay is adapted from the 2013 memoir “From Underdog to Undefeated: How I Became a Champion,” written by Robles and Austin Murphy. The book’s title was changed to “Unstoppable: From Underdog to Undefeated: How I Became a Champion” because of this movie, whose producers include Robles and Ben Affleck. For the purposes of this review, the real Anthony Robles (who was born in 1988) will be referred to as Robles, while the Anthony Robles character in the movie will be referred to as Anthony.

“Unstoppable” (which takes place from 2006 to 2011) begins by showing Anthony (played Jharrel Jerome) in his senior year at Mesa High School in Mesa, Arizona. Anthony (who is humble but determined) was born without a right leg, for unknown reasons. It hasn’t stopped him from being a national champion wrestler while he’s a senior in high school.

This type of accomplishment would automatically lead to many college scholarship offerings for non-disabled wrestlers. However, the only university to offer Anthony a scholarship is Drexel University in Philadelphia, which has a lower-level wrestling program that hasn’t resulted in any national champions. Several people in Anthony’s life, including his cranky and aggressive stepfather Rick Robles (played by Bobby Cannavale), advise Anthony to take Drexel’s scholarship offer.

Anthony’s biological father is not seen in the movie and was not involved in raising Anthony. Anthony’s loyal and spirited mother Judy Robles (played by Jennifer Lopez) is Anthony’s biggest fan. Judy and Rick (who married Judy when Anthony was a pre-teen) have four biological children together: son Nicholas (played by Noen Perez), son Andrew (played by Carlos Solorzano), daughter Ronnie (played by Julianna Gamiz), and son Joshua (played by Elijah James), nicknamed Bo. All four of Anthony’s half-siblings look up to him with great admiration.

Rick, who works as a prison guard, is somewhat of a tyrant who thinks his way is the only correct way to do things. It’s later revealed that Rick is physically abusive to Judy. Rick and Judy both think that Anthony should get a college education, but Rick discourages Anthony’s dream to become a professional wrestler after college. Anthony’s first-choice university is the University of Iowa, which has a stellar track record of winning national wrestling competitions. However, the University of Iowa hasn’t shown any interest in Anthony.

Through a series of circumstances that won’t be revealed in this review, Anthony has no choice but to enroll at Arizona State University, which is in Tempe, Arizona, about seven miles west of Mesa. One of the reasons why Anthony becomes an Arizona State University student has to do with Anthony feeling obligated to stay close to home so he can help his family out financially. He has a part-time job as an airplane cleaner at an airport.

Anthony doesn’t make it onto the Arizona State University wrestling team easily. The team’s coach Shawn Charles (played by Don Cheadle) refuses to give Anthony special treatment because of Anthony’s missing leg. Anthony doesn’t want special treatment or pity and goes through various obstacles to make it onto the team. Along the way, Anthony gets occasional advice from Bobby Williams (played by Michael Peña), who was Anthony’s wrestling coach at Mesa High School.

The Robles family members go through some tough times, including the possibility of losing their home due to financial problems. Meanwhile, Anthony is determined to win a national wrestling championship as a student at Arizona State University. He has a predictable showdown with Matt McDonough (played by Johnni DiJulius), the star champion wrestler from the University of Iowa, one of the schools that rejected Anthony. (None of this is spoiler information, since it’s all shown in the “Unstoppable” trailer.)

“Unstoppable” follows many of the same beats as other sports movies about underdog athletes. Jerome, Lopez and Cannavale give the movie’s best performances, with Jerome being an obvious standout as the central character. (Robles was Jerome’s wrestling stand-in for many of the wrestling scenes.) To its credit, “Unstoppable” is exactly what it appears to be: a feel-good movie about overcoming seemingly impossible odds. It’s too bad that this movie about a real-life athlete who took big risks ultimately has filmmaking that plays it too safe and doesn’t offer anything innovative.

Amazon MGM Studios will release “Unstoppable” in U.S. cinemas on December 6, 2024. Prime Video will premiere the movie on January 16, 2025.

Review: ‘Albany Road,’ starring Renée Elise Goldsberry, Lynn Whitfield, J. Alphonse Nicholson, Lisa Arrindell, Gary Dourdan, Joe Holt and Rachel Nicks

November 15, 2024

by Carla Hay

“Albany Road”

Directed by Christine Swanson

Culture Representation: Taking place in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., the dramatic film “Albany Road” features a predominantly African American cast of characters (with some white people and Asians) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: During a snowstorm, an ambitious advertising executive gets stuck on a road trip with her ex-fiancé’s demanding and meddling mother.

Culture Audience: “Albany Road” will appeal primarily to people fans of the movie’s headliners and dramas with realistic issues about families, friendships and romantic relationships.

Filled with vibrant and realistic performances, “Albany Road” takes viewers on a roller coaster of emotions in this drama about an ad executive forced to go on a trip with the mother of her ex-fiancé. On this unexpected journey, the two women are forced to confront mistakes they’ve made and whether or not to make life choices based on love or based on fear. The movie has the right of blend of heartwarming and heartbreaking moments, despite some occasional scenes that look like sitcom material.

Written and directed by Christine Swanson, “Albany Road” has it world premiere at the 2024 edition of Ebertfest in Chicago. It subsequently had screenings at the 2024 American Black Film Festival in Miami; the 2024 Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival (where “Albany Road” won the award for Best Feature Film); and the 2024 Urbanworld Film Festival in New York City. The movie admirably avoids a lot of movie/TV negative stereotypes of African American people who are gathered for certain occasions. For example, none of the characters in this movie is an ex-convict, a poverty-level single mother, or is struggling with being in an abusive relationship.

“Albany Road” begins by showing protagonist Celeste Simmons (played by Renée Elise Goldsberry)—a hard-working and intelligent advertising executive based in New York City—in a meeting with her boss Craig (played by Ben Rappaport), who is a partner in the firm where they work. The firm has a major presentation coming up for a very important potential client. Celeste agrees to take the lead on the presentation, which will take place in Washington, D.C., where Celeste used to live. Celeste will be assisted by a junior-level co-worker named Andrea (played by Lily Cowles). Celeste and Craig make a agreement that if she can get this important deal, she will be made a partner in the firm.

The movie then shows a flashback to when Celeste used to live in Washington, D.C., with her fiancé Kyle Henderson (played by J. Alphonse Nicholson), who’s a professor of molecular biology at Georgetown University. This flashback takes place during a time when Celeste had been offered a job at this advertising firm. Celeste and Kyle are both torn about what whether or not Kyle will move to New York City to be with Celeste. (“Albany Road” was actually filmed primarily in Champaign, Illinois.)

Adding to this dilemma, Celeste (who is in her 40s) knows that Kyle wants to have a family, and she fears that she might not be able to have the children that they both want. Celeste is an only child whose parents died in a car accident when Celeste was in college. In a tension-filled conversation in this flashback, Celeste says: “I don’t want to be the reason why you don’t have a family.” Kyle (who is also an only child) says, “I don’t want to be the reason why you don’t have a career.”

It’s soon revealed that Kyle decided to stay in Washington, D.C., which is why he and Celeste broke up. However, Kyle’s rude and meddling mother Paula Henderson (played by Lynn Whitfield) did something to sabotage the chances of Kyle moving to New York City. Kyle had been interviewing for a consulting job with Celeste’s new employer. Paula (who is a widow) pretended to be Kyle’s assistant and called the company to say that Kyle was no longer interested in the job. Paula wanted Kyle to stay in Washington because he was about two years away from getting tenure at George Washington University, and she thought it would be foolish of him to quit his Georgetown University job to move to New York City, where he would have less certain career prospects.

“Albany Road” (which is named after the road where Paula lives) takes place a little more than a year after the breakup. Celeste and Kyle haven’t seen or spoken to each other since they ended their relationship. And because “Albany Road” is a romantic drama, that’s about to change. For the past six months, Celeste has been dating an attentive and respectful suitor named Phil (played by Gary Dourdan), who obviously has stronger feelings for Celeste than she does for Phil. Celeste thinks Phil wants to rush their relationship into going to the next level when she’s not ready.

As fate would have it, a snowstorm has caused all flights to be cancelled on the day that Celeste needs to go to Washington, D.C., for her big presentation. Stranded at the airport, Celeste gets the last available rental car at the airport. But her car rental has to be cancelled because Celeste has an expired driver’s license.

Another customer is waiting behind Celeste at the car rental area, but Celeste doesn’t want to see and talk to this person because this next customer is Paula, who knows that Celeste dislikes her. Paula has a valid driver’s license, so Paula gets the last available rental car that Celeste wanted. With no other immediate options, Celeste reluctantly agrees to share the car ride with Paula, who makes Celeste drive for most of the trip.

The two women bicker a lot, of course, but two things happen on the road that change the course of the trip. First, Celeste accidentally hits and kills a mother deer on the road. This accident stalls the car because the deer’s dead body is in the way. Celeste and Paula have to work together to move the dead deer so the car can get moving again. This deer later becomes a symbol of moving forward during rough times.

Second, the women find out that all the nearest hotels and motels are booked up. Paula suggests they reverse and go back to Pennsylvania, where Paula has a friend named Carol (played by Lisa Arrindell), a New Age “earth mother” who owns an inn, where there is room for Paula and Celeste to stay. Paula rejects Celeste’s idea to sleep in the rental car because Paula says it would be too cold and took risky for their health.

At Carol’s place, Celeste is in for even more discomfort when she finds out that there are two other guests at the inn: Kyle and his current girlfriend Morgan (played by Rachel Nicks), who is more in love with Kyle than he is with her. Kyle and Morgan (who has a friendly personality) have been dating each other for about six months. Paula is also surprised because this is the first time that she’s met or heard of Morgan, because Paula has been somewhat estranged from Kyle, who has refused to talk about his love life to Paula ever since his breakup with Celeste.

During the course of this life-changing trip, secrets are revealed and long-simmering feelings come to the surface. “Albany Road” has several moments of comic relief, including a subplot about Carol’s farmer husband Billy (played by Joe Holt) having a secret business as a marijuana grower, who mostly has customers in Maryland, where cannabis/marijuana is legal for adult use. “Albany Road” has some scenes of certain people in the movie smoking marijuana and trying to hide it from other people.

“Albany Road” occasionally has very contrived moments where certain people show up in an “only in a movie” coincidence. However, the overall writing has sharp and authentic dialogues and situations that can be relatable to many audience members of many generations and backgrounds. Paula has one of the biggest secrets in this group of people gathered at the inn. Her secret, when revealed, changes the course and tone of the story.

Whitfield and Goldberry are a dynamic duo in portraying clashing personalities who somehow manage to find common ground because of their love for the same person. The supporting cast members give good performances, particularly Nicholson, Nicks and Dourdan, who are skilled at conveying the various conflicted feelings of being caught up in a love quadrangle. Holt and Arrindell admirably carry a lot of the comedic parts of the film.

“Albany Road” has some predictability, but other moments that are out-of-left-field surprises. One of the more unexpected parts of the movie is when a young married Amish couple named Obediah (played by Jake Ziman) and Rebecca (played by Madysen Frances), who are on a Rumspringa vacation, show up as inn guests when tensions at the inn are at their highest. Obediah and Rebecca are blissfully unaware of these tensions, which leads to some bittersweet scenes. Thanks to a talent cast and capable flmmaking “Albany Road” has a lot to offer to viewers who want to see a relationship drama that isn’t too soft and isn’t too hard but serves up just the right amount of relatable life experiences in a meaningful way.

Faith Filmworks released “Albany Road” in select U.S. cinemas on November 15, 2024.

Review: ‘A Wu-Tang Experience: Live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre,’ starring Wu-Tang Clan

November 24, 2023

by Carla Hay

“A Wu-Tang Experience: Live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre”

Directed by Gerald Barclay and RZA

Culture Representation: Taking place in 2021, the documentary film “A Wu-Tang Experience: Live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre” features a racially diverse group of people (mostly African American and white) who are connected in some way to hip-hip group Wu-Tang Clan’s concert with the Colorado Symphony at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado, on August 13, 2021.

Culture Clash: Wu-Tang Clan and the Colorado Symphony defy the expectations of naysayers who think that hip-hop and classical music cannot be a good match.

Culture Audience: “A Wu-Tang Experience: Live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of Wu-Tang Clan and people who are interested in documentaries about unusual musical pairings.

A scene from “A Wu-Tang Experience: Live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre” (Photo courtesy of Wu Tang Productions Inc. and Gee-Bee Productions)

On August 13, 2021, hip-hop supergroup Wu-Tang Clan performed with the 60-piece Colororado Symphony at the iconic Red Rock Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado. “A Wu-Tang Experience: Live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre” chronicled this event on stage, backstage, and a few places elsewhere. It’s an entertaining but predictably formatted concert documentary with some film editing that’s a little rough around the edges. If anything, this movie is proof of how hip-hop and classical music can work well together. “A Wu-Tang Experience: Live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre” had its world premiere at the 2023 Urbanworld Film Festival.

Directed by RZA (a founding member of Wu-Tang Clan) and Gerald Barclay, “A Wu-Tang Experience: Live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre” shows how RZA was the driving force to pair Wu-Tang Clan with a symphony orchestra. RZA, who is also film composer, mentions at one point in the documentary that the inspiration for him to perform on stage with music that wasn’t all hip-hop started in 2016, when he performed the soundtrack to “The 36th Chamber of Shaolin” (a 1978 martial arts film), live at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. That experience led to more opportunities for RZA to show more musical versatility in a live concert setting, he says in the documentary. RZA’s love of martial arts cinema has always been a big influence on Wu-Tang Clan.

“A Wu-Tang Experience: Live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre” has plenty of on-stage footage, but the movie includes a great deal off-stage footage, such as exclusive interview clips with RZA and the other members of Wu-Tang Clan: Method Man, Cappadonna, Ghostface Killah, U-God, GZA, Raekwon, Masta Killa and Inspectah Deck. Young Dirty Bastard, son of former Wu-Tang Clan member Ol’ Dirty Bastard (who died of a drug overdose in 2004, at the age of 35), makes a guest appearance during the concert and almost steals the show.

Ever since Wu-Tang Clan burst out of New York City’s Staten Island to become one of the most influential forces in hip-hop—starting with Wu-Tang Clan’s 1993 debut album, “Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)”—there has always been intrigue and controversy surrounding the group. All of the members have strong individual personalities (and have solo careers), which has led to periods of infighting and musical hiatuses for Wu-Tang Clan. RZA has branched out to becoming a film director and a comic book entrepreneur.

It’s been several years since the group’s had a new studio album (the most recent album is 2015’s “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin”), but Wu-Tang Clan still performs semi-regularly. This particular concert documentary shows them in good spirits and expressing overall camraderie. Raekwan comments, “I’m loving the togetherness.”

Masta Killa says of performing with the Colorado Symphony: “Having the orchestra there raises the bar. The goal was to raise it to the highest level possible. Are we there yet? I don’t know. We’ll know if this is a night to remember or a night where RZA just needs to shut the fuck up and stick to hip-hop.”

Method Man, the Wu-Tang Clan member with the most confident swagger on stage and offtsage, is shown in doing some weight lifting in a gym in the beginning of the documentary. He points to the spiderweb tattoos on his biceps, to proudly show how physically fit he is. He gives a lot of credit to RZA for being a visionary for Wu-Tang Clan and says, “We’re blessed that we’re still getting booked … A lot of our peers are dropping like flies.”

In the documentary, RZA reflects on a time when hip-hop wasn’t considered “real music” and has now evolved to be accepted into the mainstream. Case in point: Colorado Symphony resident conductor Christopher Dragon, who conducted the orchestra for this concert, says in the documentary that he grew up listening to Wu-Tang Clan and comes from a generational time period when hip-hop was fully accepted as real music. Dragon shares vivid memories of being 10 or 11 years old and listening to Wu-Tang Clan music that his older sister would play when she would drive them in a car without their parents around. Needless to say, Dragon is an enthusiastic musical partner for this concert.

Other people interviewed or featured in the documentary include Colorado Symphony artistic general manager Izabel Zambrzycki; Colorado Symphony viola player Mary Cowell; Colorado Symphony manager of ortistic Operations Dustin Knock; music producer Oliver “Power” Grant; WuMusic Group general manager Tareef Michael; DJ Mathematics; Jon “DJ Skane” Lugo; Young Dirty Bastard brand/operations manager Divine Everlasting. A diverse assortment of Wu-Tang Clan fans, who are not identifed by their names, are also interviewed at the concert. They say typical fan things, such as how the music affected their lives in positive ways and mention their favorite Wu-Tang Clan songs.

RZA comes across as the deep thinker of the group—someone who would rather show people what he can do, rather than brag about what he can do before it gets done. Although he occasionally says some cliché statements (“Music is a universal language”; “Wu-Tang is for the people”), RZA is the person in the group who makes the most effort to be inspirational in unifying not just the members of the group but also the people in the audience. Toward the end of the concert, RZA leads the audience to put their pands up to form the letter “w,” which not only stands for Wu-Tang Clan but also, as RZA says: “These w’s represent wings. You can fly above anything.”

Red Rocks Amphiteatre is unique and famous for being a venue that exists among natural rock formations that surround the venue. The beauty of the Red Rocks Amphitheatre location is well-showcased in the documentary, which has some stunning drone camera shots, as well as memorable wide-angle shots that allow viewers to soak up the atmosphere of this electrifying concert without actually being there.

The concert features many of Wu-Tang Clan’s best-known songs, including “Protect Ya Neck,” “Can It Be All So Simple,” “C.R.E.A.M.,” “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing Ta F’ Wit,” “It’s Yourz,” and “Triumph.” A few solo songs are performed, such as Young Dirty Bastard doing his version of Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” and Method Man doing his own solo hit “Bring Da Pain.” In other words, it’s a crowd-pleasing set list.

Will people who don’t like hip-hop enjoy this documentary? It depends on how open-minded viewers are to seeing a documentary that might have music that isn’t necessarily a genre that they listen to on a regular basis. “A Wu-Tang Experience: Live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre” does a fairly good job of balancing the on-stage footage with the off-stage footage, but a few of the editing transitions are a bit choppy. Despite these minor flaws, it’s great to see a hip-hop documentary that isn’t a negative stereotype of being about feuding or violence. Wu-Tang Clan has defied a lot of expectations in the group’s long career. This documentary stands as a worthy testament of how taking musical risks can lead to meaningful creative rewards.

Review: ‘American Fiction,’ starring Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae and Sterling K. Brown

November 2, 2023

by Carla Hay

“American Fiction”

Directed by Cord Jefferson

Culture Representation: Taking place in Los Angeles and in Massachusetts, the comedy/drama film “American Fiction” (based on the novel “Erasure”) features an African American and white cast of characters (with a few Latinos) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: An author/professor, who happens to be African American, creates a fake persona as a fugitive criminal to write a book that has racially demeaning stereotypes of African Americans, and when the book becomes a hit, he has to decide how far he will go in living this lie.

Culture Audience: “American Fiction” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and movies that take sharp aim at how people use racial stereotypes to damage others and to make profits.

Sterling K. Brown in “American Fiction” (Photo by Claire Folger/Orion Pictures)

“American Fiction” takes a smart and satirical look at how racial stereotypes are enabled and perpetuated. Jeffrey Wright gives a standout performance as an author who has to choose between keeping his integrity by being his authentic self, or being a demeaning racial stereotype for money. This sharp and incisive movie is also an emotionally touching portrayal of a family trying not to fall apart when dealing with serious illness and grief.

Writer/director Cord Jefferson makes an admirable feature-film directorial debut with “American Fiction.” Jefferson (a former journalist and an Emmy-winning writer of HBO’s 2019 limited series “Watchmen”) adapted the “American Fiction” screenplay from Percival Everett’s 2001 novel “Erasure.” “American Fiction” had its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, where the movie won the People’s Choice Award, the festival’s top prize. “American Fiction” has since made the rounds at several other film festivals in 2023, including its New York premiere at the Urbanworld Film Festival, where Jefferson received Urbanworld’s Visionary Award.

From the very beginning of “American Fiction,” viewers see that protagonist Thelonious “Monk” Everett (played by Wright) isn’t afraid to possibly offend some people, in order to express his point of view. Monk, who lives and works in Los Angeles, is a literature professor at an unnamed university. During a class session, he has written on the board the name of a book that has the “n” word (derogatory term for a black person) in the book’s title.

Monk, who is African American and in his 50s, has assigned the book as required reading for his class, but one of his students named Brittany (played by Skyler Wright) objects to the title of the book being on the board during the class session, because Brittany says that the “n” word is offensive to her. Most of the students in this class are white, including Brittany, but there are some people of color (including some black people) who are students in the class too.

Brittany says she doesn’t want to see that word during the class session, so she asks Monk to erase the word from the board. Monk refuses and tells Brittany sternly about how he feels about the “n” word being in the title of the book: “With all due respect, I got over it. I’m pretty sure you can too.” Brittany then storms out of the class in a tearful huff, as Monk can be heard shouting at the students to focus on his lecture.

The next scene shows Monk having a meeting in an office room with his supervisor Leo (played by John Ales) and two of his faculty peers named Mandel (played by Patrick Fischler) and Gilda (played by Carmen Cusack), who all tell Monk this latest complaint against him has crossed a line where he has to be held accountable. It’s mentioned that Monk previously offended a student of German heritage by asking the student if the student has Nazi family members. Monk is defiant and gets into a little bit an argument with Mandel, who insults Monk for not having any recently published work.

Monk retorts by saying that he’s working on a book for a publishing house named Echo. It’s not enough to impress Leo, who orders Monk to go on a leave of absence that includes an already planned trip to Boston to go to the Massachusetts Festival of Books. Boston is Monk’s hometown, but he tells his colleagues that he hates Boston. It’s probably one of the reasons why he was sent there.

At the Massachusetts Festival of Books, Monk is a speaker on a panel that is sparsely attended. (There are less than 10 people in the audience.) At the end of the panel, when he comments to a fellow panelist on the low attendance for their session, Monk finds out that a much more popular Q&A at the festival was scheduled at about the same time as his panel. This interview is still taking place when Monk goes to the room to see what’s so special about this Q&A.

In the packed room, the solo speaker who is being interviewed is Sintara Golden (played by Issa Rae), an African American author of a best-selling novel called “We’s Lives in the Ghetto,” which is a racially demeaning story about uneducated and poor African Americans in a crime-ridden area. Sintara reads from the book and gets enthusiastic applause from the racially mixed audience. Monk is offended and jealous that this type of book is a hit, while he is having trouble finding a publisher for his most recent intellectual book, which is a contemporary re-imagining of Aeschylus’ “The Persians.”

While in the Boston area, Monk makes reluctant contact with the family he has barely kept in touch with over the past several years. Monk is a never-married bachelor with no children. His widowed mother and two younger siblings are his closest relatives. Without giving away too much information, it’s enough to say that there are many reasons why Monk has been avoiding his family. Monk’s family has a lot of secrets that are eventually revealed throughout the movie.

Several people in Monk’s dysfunctional family are doctors. His deceased father was a medical doctor. His younger sister Lisa Ellison (played by Tracee Ellis Ross) is a doctor at a clinic called Boston Family Planning. It’s a clinic that provides abortion services, which isn’t said out loud in the story, but it’s implied, based on conversations about how Lisa’s job can be dangerous and controversial. Lisa gives Monk a car ride back to the family home in Boston.

Lisa is divorced with no children. She is also a caretaker for their mother Agnes Ellison (played by Leslie Uggams), who is showing signs of early onset Alzheimer’s disease. For example, Agnes forgets that Lisa is divorced. Agnes has a loyal and friendly housekeeper named Lorraine (played by Myra Lucretia Taylor), who is in her 60s. Lorraine is treated like a member of the family.

Monk’s other younger sibling is Clifford, nicknamed Cliff (played by Sterling K. Brown), a plastic surgeon who is a divorced father. Cliff got divorced because his wife found out that Cliff is gay. Cliff is now dating men in the gay singles scene and abusing cocaine. It’s also revealed in the movie that Cliff has an inferiority complex and feels competitive with Monk because Monk was always treated as the favorite child by their domineering father.

Agnes has a house in Boston and a beach house in an unnamed city in Massachusetts’ Martha’s Vineyard region. Through a series of circumstances, the family members are staying at this beach house for much of the movie. During their stay, Monk meets an intelligent and opinionated neighbor named Coraline (played by Erika Alexander), a public defender attorney who respects Monk’s talent and becomes his love interest. However, Coraline has her own messy marital situation. She’s in the midst divorcing her husband Jelani (played by Michael Jibrin), who still lives with her for financial reasons.

“American Fiction” skillfully weaves all of Monk’s challenges that he faces in his personal life and in his career. At the same time that he’s going through some emotionally taxing family issues, he’s having problems finding a publisher for his latest academically inclined book. As a sarcastic joke, Monk decides to use an alias called Stagg R. Leigh to write a racially demeaning novel called “My Pafology” (intentional misspelling of “Pathology”) about African Americans speaking bad English and being involved in crime. (The book’s title is later changed to a curse word.) A thug character named Van Go Jenkins is the narrator/protagonist of “My Pafology.”

In a story-within-a-story construct, “American Fiction” occasionally depicts characters from the “My Pafology” novel coming to life as Monk is writing the book. In one of the book’s chapters, Van Go Jenkins (played by Okieriete Onaodowan) commits an act of violence against an older man named Willy the Wonker (played by Keith David) in Willy’s home. You don’t have to be a psychiatrist to see why Monk chose to write this scenario, considering the complicated relationship that Monk’s father had with his wife and children.

Much to the surprise of Monk and his book agent Arthur (played by John Ortiz), “My Pafology” quickly gets an offer of $750,000 from a book publishing company named Thompson Watt that rejected the intellectual book that Monk wrote under Monk’s real name. It just so happens that Monk needs the money because Agnes has to be put in an assisted living home, and Monk is the only one in the family who is willing to pay for it.

As already revealed in the trailer for “American Fiction,” Monk creates the Stagg R. Leigh persona to be an ex-con who was in prison for violent crimes. Monk also fabricates a story that Stagg is currently a fugitive from the law, which is the excuse he uses for why Stagg has to be so mysterious. Monk and Arthur also tell Thompson Watt publishing executive Paula Baderman (played by Miriam Shor) that Stagg R. Leigh is not the author’s real name because of his “fugitive” status. Instead of being wary of doing a deal with a fugitive criminal, Paula thinks it’s intriguing because she thinks this angle will sell more books.

The lies get more complicated after “My Pafology” is published and becomes a hit. On the one hand, Monk feels elated that he has the commercial success that he always wanted, but on the other hand, he feels ashamed by what he had to do to get this success. It isn’t long before Stagg is taking meetings with a Hollywood filmmaker named Wiley Valdespino (played by Adam Brody), who wants to make “My Pafology” into a movie.

“American Fiction” pokes fun at people who think that they’re being hip and progressive for supporting a book like “My Pafology,” when they don’t know or don’t care that this type of book reinforces a negative stereotype that African Americans and other black people are inferior and have lives defined by violence, poverty, crime and/or trauma. Although these issues are undoubtedly struggles for many people, it’s racially problematic to stereotype one race as largely experiencing those struggles. Through characters such as Monk, Agnes and Coraline, “American Fiction” shows the reality that most African Americans are not poor, uneducated or criminals.

There is diversity among African Americans that is not always acknowledged in entertainment that wants to keep African American-oriented entertainment focused on violence, poverty, crime and/or trauma. And when people who don’t know many African Americans get their ideas about African Americans from these negative stereotypes, it perpetuates a lot of racism. At one point in “American Fiction,” book agent Arthur comments about how black people are often represented in the media and entertainment: “White people think they want the truth. They just want to be absolved.”

The very talented ensemble cast in “American Fiction” should be given a lot of credit for embodying their characters with the right mix of dramatic realism and (when appropriate) pitch-perfect comedic timing. Jefferson’s writing is clever and engaging, while his directing shows a knack for juggling multiple storylines at the same time. “American Fiction” is not a movie that singles out one race as “better” than another. Instead, it’s a blistering but honest examination of how people of all races can be complicit in perpetuating negative racial stereotypes, often for selfish reasons.

Through “American Fiction,” Jefferson has crafted a rare social commentary movie that not only invites people to laugh at these problems without feeling guilty about this laughter but also provokes people enough to show how these problems affect people in damaging ways. “American Fiction” doesn’t get preachy about what can be done about these problems. However, this very worthy adaptation of “Erasure” shows that no matter how much legislative progress can be made in civil rights, change also has to come from within people who are willing to make improvements in their own lives.

Orion Pictures will release “American Fiction” in select U.S. cinemas on December 15, 2023, with an expansion to more U.S. cinemas on December 22, 2023.

Review: ‘Say Hey, Willie Mays!,’ starring Willie Mays

January 16, 2023

by Carla Hay

“Say Hey, Willie Mays!”

Directed by Nelson George

Culture Representation: In the documentary film “Say Hey, Willie Mays!,” a group of African American and white people (with some Latinos), who are all connected to the American baseball industry in some way, discuss the impact of former Major League Baseball player Willie Mays, an inductee in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Culture Clash: Mays, who rose from humble background, broke records and racial barriers in baseball, but he still experienced a lot of racism and other problems.

Culture Audience: Besides appealing to the target audience of fans of Mays and American baseball, “Say Hey, Willie Mays!” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching documentaries about sports heroes or people who overcame obstacles to achieve greatness.

Willie Mays and Nelson George in “Say Hey, Willie Mays!” (Photo courtesy of HBO)

“Say Hey, Willie Mays!” is a laudatory, traditionally made documentary that doesn’t reveal anything new. However, this well-edited movie has a notable lineup of interviewees, including the great Willie Mays himself, who tell very engaging stories. “Say Hey, Willie Mays!” had its world premiere at the 2022 Urbanworld Film Festival in New York City.

Directed by Nelson George, “Say Hey, Willie Mays!” covers many of the same topics that were already covered in the 1988 book “Say Hey: The Autobiography of Willie Mays,” which Mays co-authored with Lou Sahadi. However, the documentary has updates up until the 2020s and has the benefit of being able to tell the story in cinematic form. It’s one thing to read about some of Mays’ iconic baseball games. It’s another thing to see the actual footage.

From the beginning, viewers know that the documentary is going to be a praise fest for Mays. The movie opens with a montage of gushing commentary from star players and experts of American baseball who are interviewed. Baseball star Barry Bonds says, “Willie is always going to be the godfather.” (And, as Bonds describes in detail in teh documentary, Mays literally is his godfather.) Baseball star Reggie Jackson (Mays’ former Oakland A’s rival) comments on Mays: “He is the most spectacular basebally player that ever played.”

Cultural historian Dr. Todd Boyd adds, “He dominated every entirety of the game.” As many baseball fans already know, most star baseball players excel or are known for one or two positions or talents in the game. Mays was extraordinary for excelling at everything in various game positions.

Longtime sports broadcaster Bob Costas credits former New York Giants manager Leo Durocher (who recruited Mays to the New York Giants in 1950, the year thay Mays graduated from high school) with coming up with a term that’s frequently used to describe Mays: “I think he [Durocher] might have been the guy who coined [the phrase] ‘five-tool power.'” The “five-tool player” in baseball refers to a player mastering five key skills in baseball playing: (1) hitting per average; (2) power hitting; (3) running; (4) fielding; and (5) throwing.

Born in 1931 in Westfield, Alabama, May came from humble beginnings and found his baseball calling early in life. He began playing for Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League while still in high school.” In the documentary, May reiterates how much Jackie Robinson (the first African American to play in Major League Baseball) had an influence on May: “I was impressed. He could do everything.”

Robinson’s pivotal breaking down of color barriers in Major League Baseball led to the league recruiting of players from the Negro American League, a league that eventually became obsolete as baseball in the United States became racially integrated. Mays was one of those recruited players in the early years of racially integrated Major league Baseball. He endured a lot of racist abuse and discrimination from some people, but most people who were New York Giants fans were thrilled at how Robinson quickly stood out as a player who helped the team win games.

During his early years with the New York Giants, Mays lived in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood, where he said he spent a lot of time at the Red Rooster restaurant/bar. His signature phrase “say hey” came about when he moved to New York, and he would tell people to stop by and “say hey.” Mays shares fond memories of holding court at the Red Rooster as a young man, but viewers will get the sense that he didn’t let all the attention of being a local hero go to his head.

In fact, several times throughout the documentary, it’s mentioned and shown how Mays spent much of his life using his fame and fortune to help others, especially underprivileged young people, including launching the Say Hey Foundation in 2000. “Say Hey, Willie Mays” also addresses the criticism that Mays got (including from his idol Robinson) for not publicly taking more of a political stand during the U.S. civil rights movement and the Black Power movement during the 1960s and 1970s. Mays says that it was never his style to publicly talk about politics, and his way of helping fellow African Americans was through his charitable work that he often did not publicize. Boyd comments, “Willie did things for people behind the scenes.”

After winning the 1954 World Series with the New York Giants (who were the underdogs against the Cleveland Indians), Mays moved to San Francisco when the Giants relocated to San Francisco in 1958. The documentary mentions that at the time, retired baseball star Joe DiMaggio (a San Francisco native) was the biggest baseball star in San Francisco. Mays, who was a big deal in New York, was somewhat overshadowed at first by the celebrity legend of DiMaggio in San Francisco, and had to work hard to win over skeptical fans in the San Francisco area.

But even with all the accolades, fame and money that Mays had because of his baseball career, Mays still experienced harsh racial discrimination. He and his first wife Marghuerite, whom he married in 1952, were not allowed to buy a house in an upscale San Francisco neighborhood populated by white people, not because the couple didn’t have the money but because of their race. The racism involved in Mays not being able to buy this house got a lot of media attention.

After a lot of public uproar, he and Marghuerite eventually bought the house, but many of the neighbors still objected to the couple living there. Mays says in the documentary that the stress of this ordeal contributed to the eventual breakdown of the couple’s marriage. He and Marghuerite separated in 1962 and officially divorced in 1963. Mays wed his second wife Mae (who was a social worker) in 1971, and they were married until her death in 2013, at the age of 74.

While a member of the San Francisco Giants, Mays became the team’s unofficial leader, say several people in the documentary. He also defended the Spanish-speaking Latino players against racism they experienced from people who didn’t want Spanish to be spoken in the team clubhouse. Mays’ former Giants teammates Orlando Cepeda, Ozzie Virgil Sr., Juan Marichal and Tito Fuentes all praise Mays for his leadership skills and for how well he treated people. Cepeda, who was a bat boy for May when Mays visited Puerto Rico, says in the documentary: “The reason why I came to play baseball was because of Willie.”

Even though Mays was eventually traded to the New York Mets in 1972 and made it to the World Series with the Mets in 1973 (the Mets lost, and he retired that year), he will be mostly remembered for his association with the Giants. Former San Francisco Giants star Bonds, who is perhaps the most famous protégé of Mays, speaks at length and sometimes gets emotional when talking about how Mays was more than a mentor to Bonds. Mays was also a second father figure to Bonds, especially after Barry’s father Bobby Bonds (who was a former San Francisco Giants teammate of Mays) passed away in 2003. Barry says, “My dad loved Willie more than anything. Willie took all the black athletes and the time and put them on his shoulders.”

It’s fairly common knowledge among baseball fans that Mays (who received a lifetime contract to work for the San Francisco Giants in 1992) was instrumental in getting the San Francisco Giants to recruit Barry. Barry also says that Mays encouraged Barry to break Mays’ record of having the most home runs in a single season for a National League player. Barry says that Mays told him about breaking Mays’ record: ‘You better pass me, and you better keep going.'” Barry eventually did that and more: In 2001, he broke the Major League Baseball record for having the most home runs (73) in a single season.

However, “Say Hey, Willie Mays” completely ignores that Barry’s career and reputation were tarnished by his “doping” scandal, when it was revealed that he used steroids during his baseball career. If Barry and/or Mays were asked about this scandal for the documentary, it’s not in the movie. It’s also possible that Barry wouldn’t agree to be interviewed if he had been asked about the scandal in this documentary, but that isn’t mentioned in the film either. Viewers can only speculate why such a big “elephant in the room” was not addressed at all in this documentary.

The closes that the documentary that alludes to Barry’s baseball career ending in some kind of disgrace is the documentary’s use of an archival footage clip during a 2018 ceremony of Barry’s number 25 being retired by the Giants. During the ceremony, Willie gives a speech and makes an emotional plea his for Barry to get voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Although Barry is eligible, he hasn’t received enough votes to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, presumably because of the doping scandal.

Other people interviewed in the documentary include historian/activist Dr. Harry Edwards; Faye Davis, daughter of “godfather of black baseball” Piper Davis; Rickwood Field president Gerald Watkins former baseball player Rev. William “Bill” Greason, Willie’s friend/mentor; sports broadcaster Vin Scully; former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown; Dusty Baker, a Major League Baseball player-turned manager; San Francisco Giants president/CEO Larry Baer; and former San Francisco Giants clubhouse senior advisor Miguel “Mike” Murphy, who retired in 2023.

“Say Hey, Willie Mays!” does a credible job of putting into context the racism obstacles that Willie and some of his other non-white teammates experienced and how he used those experiences to help others. Willie Mays’ son Michael Mays, who is interviewed in he documentary, says that any racism that Willie experienced was something he left behind when he played on the field, but off the field it was something he tried to turn from a negative to a positive. Michael adds, “He comes from a family where everybody helps everybody.” Boyd adds of Willie: “He had the power to open the doors for other people.”

However, the documentary doesn’t dig any deeper to find out how Willie’s close faher/son-type relationship with Barry affected Michael or other members of the Mays family. “Say Hey, Willie Mays!” is certainly inspirational, but it doesn’t provide much new insight into Willie except to praise all of his glories without a full exploration of any of his failings and what he might have learned from any mistakes he made in his life. Overall, “Say Hey, Willie Mays!” is not a completely well-rounded or grounbreaking documentary, but it’s a treat to watch for baseball fans or anyone who likes to see biographies of people who have lived their lives with dignity and respect.

HBO premiered “Say Hey, Willie Mays!” on November 8, 2022.