Aldis Hodge Gives Soul Stirring Performance in Brian Banks

Have you or someone you know ever been accused of saying or doing something that without a shadow of a doubt you know isn’t true?

Brian Banks was on his way to becoming the biggest and brightest star that the NFL would’ve ever seen.  As a high school player, he already had the attention of national media and the country’s top coaches.  When he made a decision with the wrong girl,  it changed everything and Banks would end up spending nearly 7 years of his life behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit.  Sound familiar?

Aldis Hodge is well on his way to being the most talked about actor in 2019 with this performance and another star turn in the  upcoming film Clemency. Hodge makes you feel the pain, anguish and frustration as he desperately attempts to expunge his record and clear his name nearly weeks before his parole runs out.  Thanks to Justin Brooks (Greg Kinnear) and the California Innocence Project (CIP) they accomplish exactly that and Banks eventually has an opportunity to watch his dreams come true playing in the NFL for the Atlanta Falcons.

Sherri Shepherd is known so strongly for her comedy prowess that folks will have their mouths agape when watching her performance in this film. It is simple, understated and stellar all at once.

This film hit home for me and my family making it a film I didn’t want to see as I felt the emotion would be too much to bear.  I was right, but not sorry I witnessed some of the most heartfelt, focused and prolific performances of 2019 by Hodge, Kinnear and Shepherd.

If you learn nothing else from watching this true life story you will walk away with this, it is never too late to give up.  You can’t change the way people may react to you or feel about you, but you CAN change how you react to them.

Produced by Bleecker Street Productions, Brian Banks is in theaters now and should be seen…period.  For more information on CIP go to http://www.californiainnocenceproject.org.