Omar & Pete

The title of Tod Lending's film, broadcast on PBS's P.O.V. series, suggests that its treatment of two African-American men—struggling to go straight after returning to the streets of Baltimore following years behind bars—will put equal emphasis on both. But Omar & Pete really concentrates on Omar Mason, determined to build a new life after a 15-year stretch in prison but hobbled by a tendency to overreach financially and relapse into drug use when the going gets tough. On the other hand, Pete Duncan, having already risen to a managerial position at the group home where he takes up residence, receives far less screen time, not only because he's a more reticent, private person but because his more measured re-entrance into society is less dramatic. Still, enough of Duncan's story is shown here to provide a contrast between success and failure, as well as demonstrate the need for strong support systems to assist men whose prison backgrounds make them ill-prepared to survive on the outside. And the concentration on Mason allows viewers to know him well enough to feel a genuine sense of lost potential when he stumbles and falls. The result is a thought-provoking and emotionally compelling film that personalizes the epidemic problem of recidivism. DVD extras include a few deleted scenes and an extended interview with Lending that sheds light on both the genesis of the project and problems the filmmaker encountered along the way. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)