The Inspection

As a Marine, it's hard for me to watch movies that feature the Marines, as they're usually highly inaccurate. This movie nailed the bootcamp experience and culture of the Marines. I'm glad the writer was also the director, because that definitely contributed to the accuracy of the story. Bokeem delivered in the role as the Senior Drill Instructor. Jeremy Pope gave a passionate performance in the lead role. This had a great story, outstanding actors, and is a very good film that I will definitely recommend to others, especially those who served in my beloved Marine Corps. Semper Fi and Oooh Rah!

Ellis French is a young, gay Black man, rejected by his mother and with few options for his future, decides to join the Marines, doing whatever it takes to succeed in a system that would cast him aside. But even as he battles deep-seated prejudice and the grueling routines of basic training, he finds unexpected camaraderie, strength, and support in this new community, giving him a hard-earned sense of belonging that will shape his identity and forever change his life of it.

Beautiful, filled with layers, reflecting the best and worst of military patriarchy, in a light way, while disciplining and welcoming, hurting and revolting... And the church, portrayed in the character of the mother, who tries to cure and exclude the son, as well as some religions... A beautiful, delicate and reflective biography... About second chances and choices we make during our life...

The understated nature of this film is, overall, an asset, though at the same time, it undermines the clarity and impact of the overall story. Still, this is a clear eyed look at the trauma that a parent's disapproval can wreak, and the courage and determination of the protagonist to find an accepting "family" is both admirable and inspirational. Very fine, believable performances from all the cast, and the script never strikes any false or sentimentally objectionable notes. The crisp, ninety or so minute length is also a wise decision, the story doesn't need any more than that to be told convincingly. Good (if not brilliant) job!

As the movie states it was "inspired" by a true story, meaning the characters use fictional names and many of the exact situations and dialog were invented, but as the filmmaker says, everything is accurately autobiographical to the substance of the story.

The main character is Jeremy Pope, a gay black actor, as Ellis French, a gay black man in New Jersey. The story starts in 2005 and the first 12 minutes of the movie shows us his life. He had been on his own since he was 16 and now, at 25 was homeless, spending nights in shelters, and riding the train by skipping over the gates. He looked around. Most of the other men were older and he decided he wanted to make a life for himself.

He and his mother, who had him at 16, were estranged, she did not approve of his being gay. As if she though he could control it and maybe he could decide to be straight. There is a short scene where he goes to her to get his birth certificate, he has decided to join the Marines.

The rest of the movie is during boot camp, the difficult time French had, not so much with the training, more with the anti-gay sentiment he was confronted with.

This is not an easy movie to watch at times but it overall is an excellent story of coming-of-age and setting himself up for a better life. And of course in real life he has become a writer and the director of this movie.

At home on DVD from my public library, the DVD "making of" extra is worthwhile.

Kicked out of home at age 16 by his single mother, likely because she found out he was gay, a black man eventually decided to turn his life around by joining the Marines, during the time of the Afghanistan War. This is mostly a docudrama about his time in boot camp. While he answered "no" to the question of "Are you a homosexual", shouted at all recruits early on (plus others like "Have you smoked marijuana, etc.), presumably his physical reaction to being in a shared-shower situation gave away his secret. In his continuing journey, he has both detractors and allies.

Given that this film is heavily biographical, despite the usual disclaimers, I wonder how the director will fare in a narrative that does not come from his own experiences.