Chiwetel Ejiofor Excels with Double Duty in Rob Peace

Young men like Rob Peace are expected to fail in life and in pursuit of educational freedom.  They aren’t expected to be productive members of society or be accepted to Ivy League institutions.  They are expected to be good sons and do something more with their lives than the opportunities given to their parents and grandparents.  For Peace, science was his way out emotionally and financially.

Adapted from the 2014 Jeff Hobbs book “The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace,” this film debuted earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival and has now been acquired by Republic Pictures for the world to witness. It follows Peace from his formative years into the moment he ceased being a child when his Dad, Skeet (Chiwetel Ejiofor) was arrested, charged and sent to prison for a double homicide.  However, the case suggested police tampering (the killing firearm didn’t match Skeet’s gun). Rob worried  his father might possibly be guilty, yet worked tirelessly on his release, even diverting some of  into growing and selling “designer weed” to cover legal fees through many years of court actions.

At some point Peace even states, “Science is organized results coming from the collection of analysis and data, interpreting results and reaching conclusions. Science helped me navigate the challenges I faced.” It worked, but all of this didn’t prevent the emotional stain left on a child being thrust into adult problems instead of just concentrating on growing up, dating, having a career, family and life he could be proud of.

Jay Will (Rob Peace) gives a performance well beyond his years with the maturity and depth of Oscar winners like Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker. Audiences totally feel his pain and frustration at how a loving family member can be so incredibly toxic derailing growth and  maturity.

Doing double duty, Chiwetel Ejiofor is magnificent as a Dad with narcissistic behavior resulting in his child becoming man well before his years. Mary J.Blige is really coming into her own as an actress with each role better than the next.  Particularly in a scene with her and Will that will leave your heart tattered knowing that a mother will do anything to protect her son by any means necessary.

It was not lost on me the blatant racism that still permeates the halls of Yale with the assumption that if you are a Black student, you must be doing drugs and/or know exactly where to score some from.  Or the fact that you couldn’t possibly be a little smarter than your professors making you somewhat of a science savant.

Rob Peace deserved way more than this life gave him.  Let’s hope his immortalization into celluoid will keep his story going and inspire all of those kids wishing, hoping and praying to make a better life for themselves and their families in the hood.