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John (Isaiah Washington) in Blue Caprice. |
By John Esther
Inspired by the Beltway sniper attacks of October, 2002, writer-director Alexandre Moor's feature debut premiered at the Sundance Film Festival Saturday night.
Lee (Tequan Richmond) is a teenage boy living on the Antigua Islands by himself. Abandoned, he is drawn to John (Isaiah Washington), a father of three young children. After saving Lee's life, John takes Lee under his wings, providing the father figure Lee never had. After John's three children return to his mother, Lee fills a void for John, too.
Months later John and Lee arrive in John's hometown of Washington, USA, in search of John's kids. It turns out, there is a restraining order on John. He is not to contact his wife or kids.
Refusing to take responsibility for his numerous shortcomings, John gets it into his head that the whole system is against him. But since it is a system built on a house of cards, it needs a push if father and son want to see the whole thing come tumbling down. John needs Lee's help to give it that little push. Push comes to blood.
Stranded in a foreign land without resources, the already vulnerable Lee sees no other option than to help his father go on a vicious murdering spree. Typical to character, John makes sure Lee does the real dirty work.
A solid debut featuring strong acting, Blue Caprice delves into America's familiar consequences when insecurity, anger and high profile weapons come together.
In the wake of the numerous acts of violence, it is interesting to note that Blue Caprice does not attribute the violence to big guns and mental illness. John and Lee are essentially a couple of losers.
That they are black is also besides the point. This is never about getting revenge for 400 years of slavery. John simply fantasizes that this type of violence would make a difference.
Ten years later, the Beltway sniper spree did not change the system.
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