Cut Throat City: Film Review

Cast: Shameik Moore, Kat Graham, Demetrius Shipp Jr, Eiza Gonzalez, T.I., Ethan Hawke, Terrence Howard.

Director: RZA

It's easy to see what director RZA is trying to do with Cut Throat City.

Combining the controversial topics of life for the African-American community after Hurricane Katrina and police violence against black people, the story of four childhood friends is clearly aiming to push some buttons as it spins a very familiar story.

Moore and Graham are newlyweds Blink and Demyra, who've been "underwater long before Katrina came" and are struggling. Blink wants to be a comic artist, but when his last attempt is thrown back in his face, and facing economic reality, Blink's sent down a path of desperation to provide for his family.

As the quartet scrabble to survive, they turn to robbery and the criminal world of Cousin Bass (played with calm and menace by T.I.) but find themselves in over their heads....

Cut Throat City has some fresh things to say in its story, and occasionally RZA brings it to the fore with its clever use of framing it all within Hurricane Katrina's aftermath.

But for the most part, this is a familiar retread of old themes, wrapped up in street and rapper stylings of dialogue that are more about posturing than emotional depth.

Thankfully Shameik Moore has a magnetic presence that makes his character feel soulful and his plight and desperation feel tangible. But to be frank, he is the only one of the cast that feels as fully fleshed out as is necessary for any level of investment.

Yet, as the film continues its overlong journey to an inevitable denouement of tragedy, there's little new here except a series of Hollywood big name cameos and some mightily impressive tailoring.

Narratively, things aren't helped by some logic loops - especially in the film's final sequence where one last heist takes place. It's here that RZA shows his hand with his anti-police message in a way that feels heavy-handed, clumsy and to be frank, unbelievable in its execution.

It's moments like these that prevent Cut Throat City from truly soaring above - even with the hard work of its mainly likeable cast. There is a fire in this gangster film that works best when it's restrained, and works powerfully when it's centred around the frame of Hurricane Katrina and its after effects, and of the power vacuum that's filled by undesirables.

When it tries too hard, the bluster is sadly evident, and ultimately distracting.