Review of Beyond the Lights (2014) by Meredith R — 14 Nov 2014

Pure romance. Not rom-com. Just pure-t romance. One of the reasons I was interested in seeing this is because I think Gugu Mbatha-Raw is a spectacular performer - though, I have yet to see her shine as I feel she could with the right material.

This summer's Belle was meant to be that vehicle, but something was missing there. I've never been able to quite put my finger on it, but it just felt less than satisfying. Another reason I wanted to see this was because Gina Prince-Bythewood, who wrote and directed this film, was concerned with how the music world, particularly hip-hop, were becoming more and more about objectifying women, although this is a subtext in the movie and might not be noticed if the viewer wasn't aware of this bit of information.

Nate Parker as the police officer who aspires to be a politician one day who rescues Noni from a suicide attempt at the beginning of the film really steals the picture. As luminous as Mbatha-Raw is (and she did her own singing), Parker's performance was more subtlety complex.

And the chemistry between the two actors is fantastic. Danny Glover gave a nice turn as Parker's father and Minnie Driver was a mostly one-note mean Momager, but the role was written that way and she does display a few more facets by the end, but not much.

Some of the lines and action are so cliched, I found myself begging the film not to go there but, invariably, it did. For example, during a mother/daughter scream fight the mother inevitably slaps daughter.

Of course. Also, several of the lines and, in fact, the action, when Parker is trying to pull Noni back over the balcony are so Titanic it's an unavoidable comparison. This is a generally likable movie, not too oversexed, language was reasonable (refreshing compared to how many f-bombs are thrown around these days), and the performances of the two main characters were charming.

One day I do hope to see Mbatha-Raw find a role that we can see how deep she can delve into the character, because she does seem to have a load of potential. I would be happy to see Nate Parker handle some serious material one day as well.

He may actually end up being the real star - when everyone is looking towards Mbatha-Raw.