A fine cast—including Dennis Haysbert, Danny Glover, and Charles S. Dutton—is the best reason to watch Luv, an unusual, gritty thriller set in Baltimore about a young boy named Woody (Michael Rainey Jr.), who receives a crash course in surviving urban crime on a dark and dangerous day. Skipping school to follow his ex-convict Uncle Vincent (Common) during the latter's doomed attempt to go legitimate, Woody witnesses Vincent's loan rejection at a bank, which undercuts the desperate man's hope of opening a restaurant. Turning to his former criminal mentor (Haysbert) for help, Vincent is sent on a drug delivery errand that goes wrong (and was clearly meant to kill him). Things simply become worse from there, but throughout little Woody picks up pointers on how to navigate these treacherous waters, finally leading to a confrontation with a vicious gang. Grammy-winning hip-hop poet and actor Common is a fascinating and sympathetic figure throughout, while Rainey Jr. is remarkable as a child thrust into a world of evil and surviving by sheer force of will. Director Sheldon Candis brings something original to the gangster genre here, eschewing cliché in favor of authentic emotion. Recommended. (T. Keogh)
Luv
Indomina, 94 min., R, DVD: $19.98 Volume 28, Issue 4
Luv
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