Butler's Cinema Scene

Amandla Stenberg (center)

“THE HATE U GIVE” My rating: B

132 minutes | MPAA rating: PG-13

“The Hate U Give” begins with an African American father swallowing his rage and giving his children “the talk,” instructing them how to behave if they’re ever pulled over by the cops. For starters, don’t argue. Put both hands on the dashboard and don’t remove them until told to do so.

The film ends with a race riot of the kind seen in Ferguson MO in 2014.

Between those cringeworthy moments this movie — based on Angie Thomas young adult novel and brought to the screen by director George Tillman Jr. (“Notorious,” “Soul Food,” “Men of Honor”) — explores the world of Starr Carter (Amanda Stenberg in a star-making perf), one of the few black students at her mostly white private school.

Starr is our narrator and she points out from the get-go that she’s living a dual life.  Evenings and weekends she’s a resident of a mostly-black neighborhood, where she can just be one of the girls.

Miles away at school, though, she’s got to be whiter than the white kids (who are free to appropriate gangsta manners while Starr must cling to the straight and narrow). She’s got a white boyfriend (K.J. Aha), who seems a decent enough guy, even if he is making noises about taking their relationship up a step (nudge, nudge).

“The Hate U Give” (the title references one of Tupac’s raps) is set in motion by the death of one of  Starr’s childhood friends, Khalil (Algee Smith) in a police confrontation to which she is the only witness.

The authorities expect Starr to testify about the incident, including her knowledge that Khalil was peddling dope for local drug lord King (Anthony Mackie).  King wants to stop her from talking and will threaten Starr’s family to do so.  It doesn’t help that there’s bad blood between King and Starr’s father, Mav (Russell Hornsby), a grocery owner who broke away from the  gang years before.

K.J. Apa, Amandla Stenberg

This brief synopsis doesn’t begin to probe the film’s many digressions and subplots. There’s Starr’s school gal pals who think they know all about living in the ‘hood but are hopelessly misdirected by their white privilege. There’s her uncle Carlos (Common), a cop who, while not  condoning Khalil’s death, understands how scary policing these streets can be.

Issa Rae (of HBO’s “Insecure”) plays a black activist who sees the shooting as a key moment in the fight against police brutality and racism.  Regina Hall is terrific as Starr’s nurturing mom, desperate to protect her family.

Truth is, there’s so much going on in the film’s second half that screenwriter Audrey Wells has a hard time keeping everything balanced. There are also a few tonal missteps, like a scene in which Starr introduces her white beau to her disapproving Dad…it plays like five minutes of TV sitcom in the middle of a really serious drama.

But as a painfully honest look at race relations and adolescence, “The Hate U Give” is groundbreaking stuff. And whatever the shortcomings in its delivery, young Amandla Sternberg (she’s only 20) more than makes up for them, giving a heartfelt yet subtle performance that will havre audiences falling in love with her character.

| Robert W. Butler