Movie Review - Charm City Kings

Several documentaries have been the basis for narrative films, either independent films or polished, Hollywood productions. This film by Angel Manuel Soto would be an example of the former. Recently, two films about Ruth Bader Ginsburg were released in the same year, that of RBG (2018) and On the Basis of Sex (2018). Those two films were made rather concurrently and so were released in the same year. That's not the case here. In this case, Soto and the writers-producers of this film saw a documentary and then decided to make this film based on that documentary, in effect remaking it. That documentary was Lofty Nathan's 12 O'Clock Boys (2014). That documentary was one of the best films of that year but was sadly overlooked by a lot of major award bodies, so I get the impulse to remake it and try to spread the word about it and its story. However, a lot of what made the documentary special is lost in Soto's film, as it reverts to story beats and tropes that we've seen before in films and TV shows about poor black people living in the inner city, films like Boyz n the Hood (1991) or Menace II Society (1993).

Jahi Di'Allo Winston (Queen & Slim and The Dead Don't Die) stars as Mouse, a 12 or 13-year-old, African-American living in Baltimore, specifically West Baltimore. West Baltimore has been described as one of the most depressed areas in the United States. The poverty is rampant, rampant among the predominantly African-American population there. It's described as an area of empty homes, drugs and death. Yet, it's a sight not that unfamiliar if one has watched a series like HBO's The Wire (2002). Yet, recent films like Sollers Point (2018) also show the poverty, drug use and crime that is endemic to the city. The gang-style violence is also particularly a problem, one that was commented in the 2014 documentary and a problem commented in newspapers like the Baltimore Sun recently.

Mouse is a young teen who is susceptible to that violence. However, what possibly keeps him out of that violence or focused on things that might draw him into that gang-style environment is his love of dirt bikes. In Baltimore, young black men have started riding dirt bikes on the city streets, much to the chagrin of the police department. It's akin to people who do street racing, except since black people in this area most likely can't afford to buy and fix up cars, even used ones, they ride dirt bikes because they're cheaper. Plus, one doesn't require a license or insurance to ride them, which means it's easier for young people to get into them.

Teyonah Parris (If Beale Street Could Talk and Chi-Raq) co-stars as Teri, the mother to Mouse. She's a single mother with two children, including Mouse and his younger sister. She struggles to take care of them. She doesn't really have child care or a babysitter, so when she leaves for work, she basically has to leave the children home alone. Mouse is old enough to look after his sister, but he'd rather hang out on the streets with his friends and participate in the street races with dirt bikes. Teri doesn't want Mouse doing so, in part because she doesn't want his sister unsupervised but also because of the danger of dirt bike riding.

The documentary makes a point to underscore that danger. This film doesn't really underscore that danger. The dirt bike riders are often called the "12 O'Clock Boys" because when they're riding their bikes, they'll lift the front wheel toward the 12 o'clock position, as if they're riding a unicycle, but they'll do so at high speeds. There's much footage of the riders losing control, falling off the bike or crashing it into something. It's akin to stunt drivers who drive cars on two wheels or what's called car skiing. However, what's most dangerous is not doing the 12 o'clock, but the car chases with police. Often, when police arrive, motorcyclists will take off and try to avoid cop cars, which can result in the motorcylist crashing and being killed.

The documentary does several sequences about guys who have died this way, and how it was so much of a problem that the city of Baltimore had to implement a "no chase" policy for cop cars. This film references that "no chase" policy, but it gives no context for it or why a mother like Teri would be so fearful of her son riding those bikes. In the documentary, a former police officer who was involved in the death of a dirt bike rider is interviewed and we get his take on the whole situation, as well as a friend of the rider who died.  William Catlett (Black Lightning and Love Is) plays Rivers, the police detective who keeps an eye on Mouse and tries to keep him out of trouble. He's assigned to monitor the dirt bike riders, but his concerns aren't really about the bike riders.

Meek Mill, the rapper from Philadelphia, also co-stars as Blax, a dirt bike rider who is perceived as the Michael Jordan of dirt bike riding. Yet, the film never showcases Blax on his bike in any significant way. He's introduced sitting and riding his bike, but it's only briefly. He's not showcased doing much of anything on a bike. Most of the time, Blax is working in a garage as a veritable mechanic. We never see why Blax is considered the so-called "Michael Jordan" of bike riding. He does become a mentor for Mouse due to his relationship with Mouse's deceased older brother.

Blax is tangentially connected to a gang that possibly sells drugs and engages in other illegal activity. Blax mentoring Mouse is supposed to keep the teen away from that illegal activity. However, this film conflates gang activity with bike riding, which is actually the opposite of the idea that the documentary was trying to convey. The documentary tried to argue that the dirt bikes, even though it brought trouble from police in other ways, was an outlet for young black boys to avoid the gang activity and street violence. This film seems to suggest that bike riding is symbolic of that gang activity. Obviously, bike riding isn't symbolic of that. One can be involved in the bike riding culture and not be a criminal, but the film seems to end on the idea of Mouse needing to abandon bike riding in order to live a good, productive life, which I think unfairly condemns all the various bike riders and is antithetical to the message of the documentary, which arguably does have an ambiguous ending.

Rated R for pervasive language, sexual references and some violence.

Running Time: 2 hrs. and 4 mins.

Available on HBO Max.