The DivaGals attended two of the films screened at the Urbanworld Film Festival last week. Here’s our take on The Girl is In Trouble and Middle of Nowhere.

Middle of Nowhere (pictured). Starring Emayatzy Corinealdi and David Oyelowo. Emayatzy carries an eerie similarity to Academy Award winner Halle Berry. She shares the softness and vulnerability that will have many comparing her to Hallie’s performance in Monster Ball, less the raw sexuality. Luxe Gal never thought she would describe a film about incarceration as romantic and empowering. But that’s what we’ve got with this sweet indie film. Emayatzy plays Ruby, a woman in love and on the fast track to med school — until her handsome husband’s illegal sidelines catch up with them. The film takes us through the crushing defeat and humiliation that is prison, and how it affects the incarcerated and those who love and support them. Ruby’s life is filled with the promise of a shiny future when her husband is released from prison and their American dream is restored. What she comes to realize is that prison has changed the man she once loved … just as she meets a man who is a gem and has unabashedly fallen for the pretty but sullen nurse who takes his bus. Ruby’s younger sister, cutie nephew and angry mom comprise the angry, sad and disillusioned dysfunctional family unit.
Recommendation: See this film and encourage friends to come along.

The Girl Is In Trouble. Be careful who you give your number to late in a New York City nghtclub. That’s the lesson learned by August, an aspiring DJ who gets an unexpected booty call from Signe, a Swedish singer he meets in club one night. Turns out she’s got a secret – well, a few – that revolve around a murder. Within days, August has to deal with blackmail, gang beatings and a girl he feels compelled to protect. The story is told in August’s voice-over, and even though it’s a serious matter, star Columbus Short (of ABC’s series Scandal) delivers a few laughs and he recounts how he’s gotten caught up in all of this. You won’t recognize That’s 70 Show alum Wilmer Valderrama, who plays Angel in the film, a buffed, tatted drug dealer who needs to solve his younger brother’s murder and will exact the appropriate vengeance.
Recommendation: Skip the clubs and see this film instead.

photo credit: Stephen Knight

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