LUV is a film that very few people reading this will even have heard of. Presented as part of the 2012 Sundance film festival in Utah, LUV is the partly autobiographical feature-length debut of writer/director Sheldon Candis, following 11-year-old Woody as he spends a single day with his Uncle Vincent, recently released from prison, and intent on teaching his nephew how to be a man as he goes about starting up his own business.
Truth be told, the LUV storyline is a highly recognisable one. There are plenty of "despite his best intentions..." or "wrong place, wrong time" stories depicting the complexities of an underprivileged life in America, but LUV does it in a quite unconventional way. Because the audience is treated to watching the story though Woody's eyes, it is actually the relationship between Vincent and the boy that becomes the real narrative, rather than series of situations and confrontations that the pair find themselves in.
Now in total fairness, the film isn't perfect. Pace is severely lacking in several places, and some highly questionable additions (such as a surreal fantasy sequence that bookends the story) mean that 'LUV' is by no way flawless. That said though, it does have two enormously redeeming features that really pull it away from the possibility of being judged as another typical gangster movie. Put simply, the first of those is the cast, and specifically, young Woody. The performance from Michael Rainey Jr. is truly incredible, and worthy of an experienced actor twice his age. He is able to handle the storyline with real maturity and emotional intelligence, and competently leads the film from start to finish.
Secondly, the film really triumphs in getting a complete sense of reality across to the audience. Knowing the background, it's very easy to understand why; I feel very privileged to have been privy to a Q&A with the writer/director of LUV after my screening at Sundance London, which the rest of the cinema-going public will sadly miss out on. His passion, energy and ultimately personal connection with his slightly fictionalised story of his early life is where the real power of this film lies. Suddenly, the title makes much more sense (originally scripted under 'Learning Uncle Vincent'), and it's really easy to see the personal journey that he undertook in understanding the life of his own uncle in every frame of the previous 95 minutes.
Truth be told, the LUV storyline is a highly recognisable one. There are plenty of "despite his best intentions..." or "wrong place, wrong time" stories depicting the complexities of an underprivileged life in America, but LUV does it in a quite unconventional way. Because the audience is treated to watching the story though Woody's eyes, it is actually the relationship between Vincent and the boy that becomes the real narrative, rather than series of situations and confrontations that the pair find themselves in.
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| The standard middle-distance stare that every subway commuter adopts is a must-have in all actors' arsenal |
Now in total fairness, the film isn't perfect. Pace is severely lacking in several places, and some highly questionable additions (such as a surreal fantasy sequence that bookends the story) mean that 'LUV' is by no way flawless. That said though, it does have two enormously redeeming features that really pull it away from the possibility of being judged as another typical gangster movie. Put simply, the first of those is the cast, and specifically, young Woody. The performance from Michael Rainey Jr. is truly incredible, and worthy of an experienced actor twice his age. He is able to handle the storyline with real maturity and emotional intelligence, and competently leads the film from start to finish.
Secondly, the film really triumphs in getting a complete sense of reality across to the audience. Knowing the background, it's very easy to understand why; I feel very privileged to have been privy to a Q&A with the writer/director of LUV after my screening at Sundance London, which the rest of the cinema-going public will sadly miss out on. His passion, energy and ultimately personal connection with his slightly fictionalised story of his early life is where the real power of this film lies. Suddenly, the title makes much more sense (originally scripted under 'Learning Uncle Vincent'), and it's really easy to see the personal journey that he undertook in understanding the life of his own uncle in every frame of the previous 95 minutes.
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