Beyond the Lights (2014)

*** out of ****

“Beyond the Lights” is a very happy surprise.  I thought this was simply going to be a decent entry into the “youth movie” set. You know, a “Footloose”, or “Step up”, or “Save the Last Dance”. What I got instead was a thoughtful drama about love, expectations and finding your own way in the world.

Noni (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) has been prepared to be a star since childhood. Her mother (Minnie Driver) has had her made up, worked out, dance-lessoned and sex-symboled to the point that her singing is almost irrelevant. As a child, after finishing as the runner-up at a talent show, she was forced to throw the second place trophy away.  It was for a loser.

Obviously, her mother is a real prize.....

Now in her early 20s, Noni is about to hit the big time. She has sung on a few records with a douchebag rapper (Machine Gun Kelly) and her first album is ready to sweep the nation. One problem – she hates her life. Hates it to the point that a local cop assigned to protect her pulls her back from a 12^th floor suicide attempt the night of her winning an MTV award. The cop is Kaz (Nate Parker), a young idealist with political aspirations drilled into him by his father (Danny Glover). But unlike Noni's pre-determined fate, Kaz is in favour of his – he wants to be a guy that makes a difference.

So Kaz saves Noni. Kaz is a chiseled hunk, so Noni (a toned babe) and he start a romance.

Yawn. “Save the Last Dance” here we come....

But it doesn't work out that way – the film actually uses a brain to find that things aren't always easy. Noni's mother doesn't like Kaz because he challenges her authority with Noni, and Kaz's dad doesn't like Noni because she is an inappropriate wife for a future politician. Despite the formulaic start, it is the parents not the children that are the movie cliches here. Kaz and Noni fight themselves and each other to find out if, for each of them, their career aspirations outweigh their feelings. Kaz wants to rescue her, and she wants to be rescued, only to find that he is in as much need of a hero as she is.

While it isn't groundbreaking in any way, and despite the banality of the first half hour of the film, this one actually spends some time developing the characters in a way that we can understand them. As the film continues there are still come trite aspects, but it has by that time created relationships that are interesting and worth exploring. Both the leads are wonderful in their roles, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw actually has a great voice when we finally get to hear what she can do with it.

One of the nicer surprises I've had at the movies recently, here is a film I expected to be knee-weakening fodder for the 14 year old girl audience. What I found instead was an enjoyable, thoughtful look at a couple of interesting kids, and I got involved in the storyline. I never expected this, but I give it a great recommendation. A very good film.