When an actor surprises you, its magical.
Dule Hill was a steady TV presence fromThe West WingthroughPsych.
(I hear hes onBallers, and surely being onBallersis more fun than watchingBallers.)
Credit: Diablo Entertainment
But inSleight, Hills a revelation of freaky-funny charisma.
He plays Angelo, a local Los Angeles drug kingpin.
Angelo carries himself like somebody giving a business seminar.
You gotta lead by example, he explains to his protege dealer Bo (Jacob Latimore).
Angelo comes off friendly, but dont make him angry.
Another dealer encroaches on his territory, and Angelos men bring him in.
Two minutes later, theres only one option.
Hills not in the movie enough, unfortunately.Sleightis the story of Bo, a teen struggling to earn money.
By day, hes a street magician in Los Angeles, working rare foot-traffic neighborhoods like Larchmont.
By night, he sells Angelos drugs.
Bo lost his mom last year, and hes taking care of his little sister.
Latimores a rising star, and he embodies Bos weight-of-the-world stress and his street-performer flirtatiousness.
You figure out too quickly where the movies going with Bo and Angelo.
Dillard and his cinematographer Ed Wu shoot a gray nighttime Los Angeles stripped of artifice.
Its a cliche superhero origin story.
Bos a street magician, but hes also gotpowers.
The nature of those powers are initially mysterious and then splendidly absurdtheres talk of a feedback oscillator.
(How do I get nine grandby midnight tonight?)
Youd hope that a film like this could put a bold new spin on the superhero story.
