Andre Holland uses his canvas wisely, even if he needs to figure out his passion piece.
Andre Holland played an artist in last year’s Sundance entry “Exhibiting Forgiveness,” and this year, in “Love, Brooklyn,” he plays a freewheeler who is trying to come up with something that can represent his home Brooklyn, and he also has two spouses. They’re not in relationships per se, but he’s able to do some things with one and other things with the other. It’s all within a certain balance.
I saw this movie virtually from the Sundance Film Festival, and while it isn’t as powerful as “Exhibiting Forgiveness,” it still allows Holland to continue playing different perspectives of himself, and what comes out of his different relationships are real and honest. I really think he’s one of our most truthful and passionate actors.
The freelancer Holland portrays is named Roger, and one of women he’s has a connection with is a single mother named Nicole (DeWanda Wise) and the other woman in his life is an art gallery owner named Casey (Nicole Beharie). Nicole is an open and honest person, who can call his bluff based on his maturity. And Casey, whom he used to date, teaches him about the value of art and what life brings out of it.
He tries to figure out what to make out of his two female friends, especially when Nicole’s daughter Alley (Cadence Reese) tries to make sense of what kinds of love he gives to them. His friend Alan (Roy Wood, Jr.) tells him to find his center in all of this, as “All of the Above is not an answer.” He needs to find the balance and middle ground of all this.
Holland continues to deliver whatever humanity he possesses to bring out his character’s best and worst qualities, and that’s why he’s a great actor. And he doesn’t steal the movie away from us, but he shares the screen with Wise and Beharie, who are both excellent as his different spouses.
“Love, Brooklyn” makes the right choices of not making these two women secretive from another, but to acknowledge what each side can bring to the main character. And on their respective terms with the main protagonist, they’re written wisely and played with sincerity. There are going to be conflicts and questions, but life is full of them, and this movie resonates with that.
Steven Soderbergh is an executive producer and the trailer promotes that. But the real voices are director Rachael Holder (“Dickinson,” “Everything’s Gonna Be Okay”) and writer Paul Zimmerman in his feature debut. And Holland is also a producer on this. They don’t push it to new grounds, but they do want to explore characters who try to keep the artist at bay, and try to acknowledge how the city has been for them through the years.
I travel to New York City for movie screenings, but I do walk around places for the sake of memento. And I miss this independent movie theater called Lincoln Plaza Cinemas. It closed in 2018, but it does serve as a nice place to have a lunch break. I know I sound off topic, but any city in New York can serve as a subject for a visual piece.
“Love, Brooklyn” is on a different, but universal aspect, regarding culture and themes, but it doesn’t oversell itself nor does it break down hard. It’s more of a somber film that knows what to do with the artist and his two female friends. Again, it’s not a perfect film (and I still suggest you go back and look at “Exhibiting Forgiveness”), but it is a passionate one, and even after 7 months, I still like it.
In Select Theaters This Week
