The Violent Heart

I more ore less came upon this film by accident, but was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it. I think the title is a little misleading and certainly misplaced, but fortunately I somehow managed to get past it and I'm glad I did.

It has a pretty decent script, plot, and is well directed. For the most part it's a fairly simple tale well told of the meeting of two young people and how that develops with the complicated pasts that lies beneath their family history. Its an intriguing and well paced plot with a soft curve that ramps up evenly as the movie progresses.

A solid cast does a good job bedding you into the tale as it unfolds with subtle infusions of drama that add to its complexity. Jordan Carter does a great job with the portrayal of younger Daniel, however I think that Jovan Adepo who plays the older version of Daniel is miscast here. Throughout the film he seems somewhat distant and subdued and even when violence erupts from him, his manner always seems a little understated. His counterpoint in the film Cassie, played by Grace Van Patten, falls for him for really no reason that I can fathom, and the affection she has towards him seems misplaced given there is such little depth to his personality. I'm never convinced of the supposed bond that exists between them, or at least of the reasons for the affection she has for him.

The plot unfolds with some very interesting developments and with normal teens some rebellious behaviour ensues, bur fortunately here its not used to sour the character played by Van Patten. The film uses black and white actors in realistically separated lifestyles, and not in some idealistic homogenous social cocktail that is all too often employed to depict diversity. However its done without some of the more unpalatable racial overtones that so many films use to add tension and spice to the screenplay. Its been done well and gives the film an air of a unique viewpoint of events as things unfold and the lives become entwined.

I liked it. The story stuck with me for some time after I watched it, and that's always a good sign that it had positive impact. I think 7/10 is a pretty fair rating, possibly a little high given the reservations I had with the lead, but I'll let that slide.

Its a good film definitely worth watching.

This was an incredible story that grabs you from the first several minutes to the very end! As soon as I began watching, the movie, it captured my attention all the way to the end. The actors took you on a journey and you really didn't know where you were going to end ups. The ending was surprising, but not totally a shocker. I did expect a different ending. By all accounts, the acting was great, and Mary J Blige as the matriarch of the family was very convincing, although her part was very small. I highly recommend this movie without hesitation. It is worth the 1 hour and 45 minutes. Get your popcorn ready!

The foreshadowing throughout this movie was very allusive. The ending does a decent job at tying almost everything together. However the ending did leave us with a few questions. There were some unresolved issues that would have made the story more clear. Nonetheless we appreciate that the twist wasn't predictable and it left us wondering throughout watching what the issue could be.

They seemed to paint the main character like an angry black man but didn't actually show him in that light. In fact it was quite the opposite it was a young man trying to manage his emotions and get back on track.

Overall, this movie did keep us on our toes and we would recommend it to watch.

I'm not going to spoil the movie for anyone reading my review. All I wanted to say is that this movie is a rollercoaster of emotions. Brilliantly written and acted by all characters. Like it says in the description; this movie will have you believing that it about A 24 year old black male who's involved with an 18 year old white girl in who's still in high school but it's so much more than that. This film states it was made in 2020 but I recently saw it on a movie website I frequent and this film was truly an unexpected gem. This was a original film for the genres it touches. 9/10.

Leave aside for the moment that Sanga is exploring Hitchcockian beats that most film-goers have not seen in their lifetimes. And leave aside also the perfect casting, especially Van Patten successfully selling a complicated and counter-intuitive character ,while at the same time playing Older-4-Younger. What really matters is that Sanga stuck to the core rule of story-telling that so many modern auteurs forget -- engage the viewer. Connect to the character. Hold the attention.