Cast: Anthony Anderson, Carla Monroe, Vanessa Robinson, August Monroe, Mister Ford.
Genre: Drama.
Director: Chris Robinson.
Producer: Robert Teitel, Christian Sarabia, Glendon Palmer.
Writer: Miles Orion Feldsott,
Runtime: 1h 49m
On the empty streets of Chicago’s South Side, two teens walk home. A gun fires. Blood floods on the concrete, ears are ringing, and one of the young people finds themselves looking into the other’s lifeless eyes. It fades to black before a catchy tune quickly storms in to contradict the moment, and then we pop back into the action over a year later, as clearly-marked Beats branded headphones are flashed on screen in a movie called… well, Beats. I’d say that’s an off-putting start, wouldn’t you? Fortunately, it’s just an overly rocky opening for a movie that is ultimately just average.
In the film, newcomer Khalil Everage plays August, an agoraphobic teen who has refused to leave his house and go to school ever since the shooting of his sister. Instead, he spends hours creating beats on his drum machine in his room. It starts as a distracting hobby, but things change when a security guard from his high school, Romelo Reese (Anthony Anderson), listens in on his beats and, being a former music manager, makes it his priority to help bring August success in the hip-hop scene.
Beats is the second feature film to be helmed by experienced music video director Chris Robinson, who previously made 2006’s ATL, and has crafted pieces inspired by the music of Alicia Keys, T.I., Lil Wayne and Prince. And while he doesn’t succeed in making the drum machine prodigy film particularly cinematic, especially when it comes to August doing his thing, the story being told does push some emotional buttons that will deeply affect audiences.
–cinemablend.com