REVIEW: Concrete Cowboy

"Concrete Cowboy" has Stranger Things alum Caleb McLaughlin saddle up with Idris Elba in a father-and-son tale set against the backdrop of urbanization. McLaughin stars in the film as "Cole," a troubled teen whose escapades into trouble have him teetering on the edge of a life of aimless ruin. In an act of desperation, Cole's mother drops him off in Philadelphia at the apartment of his father (played by Elba) whom he hasn't seen in years. It's a drastic change of scene for Cole, but there's a chance for him to make something of himself here. If he can avoid the toxic influence of Smush, a local kid with dubious ties to local gang activity.

The premise sounds intriguing enough, but the finished product is so textureless that even after actually watching the film, you somehow don't feel you've learned anything more about it.

The movie relies a lot on the audience bringing their own preconceptions to the table. Opening with a shot of Cole looking forlorn as he hangs his head outside the principal's office is supposed to be enough to tell us that Caleb's mother is ready to dump him with his father that he hasn't seen in years. No explanation given to exactly how many schools he's been expelled from or even what he's done this time to get kicked out.

Because Cole's problem is so undefined, the movie is allowed to run him through an eclectic assortment of character-building experiences and we're just supposed to roll with it, telling ourselves that it's bringing Cole closer to his final destination, whatever that is.

A sizable part of Cole's development hinges on him establishing a relationship with Harp, with whom he has an estranged relationship. Indeed, "uninvolved" describes not only Harp's approach to fathering, but also his participation in this film. At least for the first half, there's a curious lack of Idris Elba in this film.

The movie tries cashing in on this relationship around the midpoint with a shouting match between the two, and you get the feeling this might have worked had we seen Cole actively reaching out to Harp and Harp pulling away. It all comes back to the movie's insistence on gliding off of the audience's built-in understanding of separated sons and fathers. The movie asks us to want Cole and Harp to reconcile more than either of them want to.

Both Elba and McLaughlin give fine performances, but we've seen them both do better. The one performance that does deserve a shoutout would be Lorraine Toussaint's "Nessie," a sort of maternal figure for Caleb who helps bridge the gap between him and Harp. Her comfortable confidence is palpable without ever feeling overbearing. She leads the ensemble cast for this film, many of which, we learn in the credits, are in fact real-life "Concrete Cowboys" of Philadelphia.

Little if anything about this movie is actively bad, but much of it is underdeveloped. The camaraderie between Cole and his cowboy clan feels genuine if somewhat undefined, and the cinematography creates some fascinating shots. There's not a sunset wasted in this film. Just so, a little more attention to characterization never hurt anybody.

--The Professor

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