Kings: Los Angeles em Chamas

Very dramatic and fake acting nonsensical things happen, not realistic. Some scenes were so wtf and cringe. Bad directing. If it had a different director and fixed the script a little bit it would reach 9. But for now it's a 4.

There is way too much foreplay to this movie. The actual story starts with a dramatic shooting seven weeks before the riots, then switches to an overburdened mother and her cantankerous neighbour, as well a feisty homeless girl (whom soon attracts the attention of two grown boys living with the mother). I felt there was more attention paid to the story of the homeless girl than the Halle Berry story. The problem with the movie is that this long distance of time and the parallel story lines creates a lack of focus. There is also a constant diversion to the unravelling of the times on the ever-present TV which lead to the fateful night of the riots. I appreciate the ticking time bomb intention. It all seems over-long, over-complicated and thus under-committed. If the story had just followed the mother I feel we could have had a more powerful movie. She has numerous kids, all with charm, and an action-packed story of her own. Once you realise the plot you'll quickly realise that her tale has all the impact needed to bring together all the elements of horror of that fateful day and night. I also believe more attention could have been paid to the riots and looting itself. It was a cheap shot to constantly have to follow that on grainy pre-digital tv images instead of something weightier produced by Hollywood itself. Too often we see this in movies these days. A great movie concept, but the vision is marred by wanting to show too much in too little time. I appreciate how hard that must be, but the means to the end needs to be entertaining, and despite the quality of some of the performances here and the originality and cuteness of some of the story ideas, I felt that that very cuteness ran counter to the seriousness of the parallel story (the homeless girl) and was too much on the plate. Something needed to go, or something needed to be handled differently. It's still a good movie for all that, and definitely an honest salute to those affected by the riots themselves, and Halle Berry's terrific performance will certainly make the effort worth the while.

"Kings" (R, 1:32) is a crime drama, with romantic undertones, written and directed by award-winning director Deniz Gamze Ergüven (2015's "Mustang"). Although the title is never really explained, the film is about a family of foster kids in South Central Los Angeles who struggle to deal with endemic racial discrimination - and to survive the L.A. riots following the 1992 Rodney King beating trial verdict.

Oscar winner Halle Berry stars as Millie Dunbar, a foster mother who loves children and has a special place in her heart for troubled kids. She has a house full of them - boys and girls of different races and ages. She loves all of them as if they were her own and she works multiple jobs to take care of them. That last part means she's often away from home, and care for the younger ones often falls to her oldest, Jesse (Lamar Johnson). Jesse is intelligent and responsible, but he struggles against the instincts of his short-tempered best friend, William (Kaalan "KR" Walker), and a short-tempered neighbor, named Obie (Daniel Craig), who complains about Millie's parenting - and the noise coming from her house.

The film uses a re-enactment of the fatal March 16, 1991 shooting of teenager Latasha Harlins by an L.A. Korean convenience store owner and news of the shooter's conviction, but subsequent sentence of probation, to set the stage for the events to come. As frustration in the black community builds, the film's plot remains focused on Millie's make-shift family and their relationships with their friends and other members of their neighborhood, including Obie. When it is announced that the police officers who beat Rodney King on the night of March 3, 1991 have been acquitted, rioting begins. Millie's kids are involved in the mayhem in various ways and she fights to find and protect them, with Obie helping her.

"Kings" is a personal window into the lives of average people during one of the most upsetting and violent moments in recent American history. Although fictionalized, the story is nevertheless affecting and the film is dedicated to one of the young men who lost his life during the riots. Some of the plot points feel contrived, but the film's effective at delivering greater understanding of and compassion for those affected by the L.A. riots - and the issues that led up to that episode - some of which clearly continue to plague society today. "B+"

I cannot believe that Halle Berry and Daniel Craig have put their name to this movie. I thought that it would have been a great story but it just rambles on about nothing with a few original news items thrown in just to remind what is happening. I would give this a start rating of 2 and would be one of the mob=vies to avoid this year.

I have never written a bad review before but just felt compelled to pen this one.

The movie was all over the place. No character development, why was Hallie Berry with nine or ten various kids, oh I get fostering. Nothing explained. And I think her and Craig did the movie for free. Spike Lee would put it together better. You have to live the life before you can make film about South Central. Where I grew up. South central was worse than the film but it was a jumbled mess.