When an attempted robbery goes sideways, Kadir Grayson (Asante Blackk) finds that his life will never be the same. He’s a promising young artist, one that has the potential to go on to places like Pratt and make a name for himself–but he’s fallen in with the wrong crowd. Story Ave sees Kadir on his journey toward redemption.
Story Ave is your standard bildungsroman. It’s just a story about a teenage boy that has lost his way after suffering some sort of tragedy. The entirety of the film focuses on Kadir trying to right the ship and find his way in life. The film never veers from this incredibly linear path, and it does things that many films before have done. What sets it apart from those other films is the fact that it is able to develop emotion and drama in incredibly powerful ways.
That drama starts with Blackk and his eyes. Viewers are sort of pulled into his eyes, forced to swim in them throughout the course of the film. Every shred of emotion that pours from him comes from that part of him. He’s powerful in his performance, but his ability to manipulate his eyes and be able to pull viewers in like this helps to develop drama throughout the course of Story Ave. Again, while Black is a great actor, and his performance plays a huge role in Story Ave finding success, a lot of the success in this regard comes down to the casting of Deanna Brigidi. She found someone that does more than perform, he looks the role, and his aesthetic is such an important part of the film.
I think I’m the target audience (or at least part of the target audience) of Story Ave. I teach students that come from broken homes, that have experienced trauma, and that struggle to adapt to their surroundings and find success in education. It’s not because they are incapable of finding success, but because they aren’t always sure how to put their best foot forward and achieve their goals. I’m here to help guide them toward success, and that’s the role that Luis Torres (Luis Guzmán) takes on in Story Ave. Guzmán is great, but it’s the writing that makes the character so powerful. He is, in a lot of ways, me–and I connected with him every step of the way. Through the good and the bad, the writing of Aristotle Torres and Tonsu Thompson shines incredibly bright.
While films like this have been done before time and time again, Story Ave does manage to be different. From the casting of Blackk, to the writing of Torres and Thompson–this film is just different enough to stand on its own, to evoke emotion, and to ultimately find success.
Directed by Aristotle Torres.
Written by Aristotle Torres & Bonsu Thompson.
Starring Asante Blackk, Luiz Guzmán, Melvin Gregg, Alex R. Hibbert, Cassandra Freeman, Coral Peña, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐½/10
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