Black Butterfly

An Earnest Effort: This Urban Drama Has Its Heart In The Right Place, But Never Fully Rings True
There is a confident matter-of-factness that serves the understated appeal of Mark Harris' "Black Butterfly" quite well. In its quiet moments, the film does a good job establishing a believable and supportive middle class family. The story revolves around Mahogany Monae as a promising high school swimmer with dreams of Olympic glory. She is a good student, an ideal daughter, a loving influence on her disabled brother, and a loyal girlfriend. The early sequences in the film really get you to appreciate Monae as a character and her interactions with those around her stand in a very positive light. In many ways, you know that this idyllic world must be headed for a speed bump. Soon, the girl's entire existence is going to be shattered by a random act of violence and this event will have long range repercussions on all that love her.

The set-up of "Black Butterfly" is both simple and effective. While the dialogue and performances do have moments where they come across as...

surprised i liked it
i rented this from redbox expecting it to be corny or just stupid and i really enjoyed it, it had a coupla corny moments but it is worth purchsing. I liked it way better than i expected and it was well worth the rental price.

Stellar acting from some...a story we all know
While the writing was, at times, overwrought and preachy, the performances were solid.

I was particularly impressed with the Mahogany Monae and Lionel Gentle. Monae, while a bit old for her role and Gentle, a bit young for his, delivered nuanced performances, in spite of the heavy handedness of the script.

While the subject matter is tough to watch, I was impressed with the movie overall and would recommend it.

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