B-Boy Blues Movie Review

B-Boy Blues is an American LGBTQ movie that was released in 2022, this is my review.

About

A college-educated journalist from Brooklyn and a “homeboy”-bike messenger from Harlem fall in love. They are two guys from different backgrounds and this story is about how they face their cultural differences.

The film is based on a screenplay by James Earl Hardy who is known for his writers on the African American LGBTQ experience.

Cast

The movie was directed by Jussie Smollett, who faced some legal challenges recently, although I’m not sure what happened. Evidently, this is his first creation since the so-called controversy.

Timothy Richardson plays the main character Mitchell. Timothy has 12 acting credits, according to his IMDB biography, but has also had expertise in the areas of cinematography, directing, writing, editing and producing.

Thomas Mackie plays Raheim/Pooquie, the somewhat on/off partner of Mitchell. Thomas has numerous acting credits back until 2015 including roles in the TV series Kaleidoscope, About Him 2: The Revolution, and Triangle.

My Review of B-Boy Blues Movie

Like some other LGBTQ movies, same as Asian movies, it gets really mixed reviews, from “best film ever” to “hated it”. The score on IMDB is quite unfair as the majority of those who have written reviews gave it a 10/10.

At first, there seemed to be a lot of clichés in the movie but the story developed into its own as the film progressed.

As the summary states, the movie is really about two people who come from totally different worlds trying to get on with other, and those who are close around them. The child actor was very cute and quite the ham, he was a brilliant addition. The immediate family around them were pretty cool characters and we thought “we know someone exactly like that”.

The film had humour and drama, they all fit in well with each other. Often it felt like a “fly on the wall” type film. There was some good editing, such as flashbacks. The musical score matched the staging of the film. It was great to see some familiar sites in New York City. It was more realistic than other LGBTQ films.

Negatives about the movie: Well, I do think there were too many clichés. The way Mitchell took Pooquie back was slightly unrealistic and quick, but maybe this happens in real life, not in my experience, but what do I know.

Another important film exploring the diversity within the LGBTQ movie. A film that I’m sure people will watch and talk about for many years. I will give it a 4/5, worth seeing.