Red, White, and Blue Finally Gives John Boyega the Character Driven Film He Deserves
By: Marcus Rone
Tags: Cinema, Film, Movie Review, Movies, Filmmaking

Red, White, and Blue Finally Gives John Boyega the Character Driven Film He Deserves

The 3rd part of Steve McQueen’s Small Axe anthology series gives us a glance into what it takes to change a racist & corrupt police force from the inside Marcus Rone Dec 21, 2020·4 min read

Image: Amazon Prime Video

If you can’t beat them, join them, right? More often than not, that is much easier said that done. It’s especially challenging in a situation where the very thing you are trying to change is actively trying to undo your culture, your identity, and your very life. Red, White, and Blue isn’t only a scathing critique of the police both in how they treat minority members of the public, but in the toxic culture within the force itself. Driving home the emotional component of the film is in John Boyega’s truly excellent performance as the lead character, Leroy Logan. Logan’s positive and constructive attitude (some would say naïve) on how he can effect change, gives us a glimpse into just how difficult it is to make a real difference in a world that doesn’t want you to succeed.

Leroy Logan was a real live person who was instrumental in diversifying and changing the London Metropolitan Police for the better. In the film we see how Logan is inspired to take up the responsibility and challenge of becoming a police officer after his father is beaten by two police officers. Upon telling his family and friends his decision to join the police force, he is met with scorn and disapproval. Seeing it as a betrayal of their core beliefs and just as bad as joining the enemy. But Logan believes that the best way to make things better is to be a positive source of change within the establishment. What Logan doesn’t plan on is just how difficult and demoralizing the experience would prove to be.

Although racing through the police academy with excellence and outstanding performance in every regard, Logan deals will consistent disregard by his peers and his superiors. Often when he is just trying to do his duty faithfully and objectively, his fellow officers intentionally leave him in the wind without support or accommodation. On one occasion his colleagues allow him to be attacked during the pursuit of a violent criminal, even though he called for backup, none of them showed up to help. When Logan confronts his coworkers for not backing him up, they find his struggle amusing. Logan at least thought that in a situation involving combat, his peers would have his back. But we see how his white colleagues treat him as the enemy even when the true enemy is apparent.

Image: Amazon Prime Video

While the impeccable direction of Steve McQueen is obvious here, the movie hinges entirely on Boyega’s performance; and his performance really is amazing. Seeing the way he balances what it feels like to want to try and make a difference in your community while maintaining your duty to your family and dealing with strong familial biases and opinions on how you should conduct your life. Struggling with that obligation to your family and friends while also attempting to do something that hasn’t been done before is a lot to convey in such a short amount of time. The film only runs at 80 minutes and having a movie that short runs the risk of not allowing your story to flesh out your characters fully. But with a great script and the excellent work Boyega is doing through his body language and the way he carries himself, his pathos is clear. It’s arguably his best performance in a still very young career, in which most of the roles he’s had haven’t given him the chance to show off just how damn good he really is. Red, White, and Blue is the best evidence yet that he’s one of the most promising young actors working today and whatever he has planned next should excite all of us.

The future at the end of the film for Logan appears bleak. It’s not a hopefully situation where he breaks through to one or two of the white officers and we start to see the fruit of his labor. It’s a fairly dreary situation he has found himself in, but in time through hard work and determination, Logan believes he will make a difference. That’s really the best we can do sometimes, and without that first person deciding to stand up and at least try to make a change, nothing would ever get done. Leroy Logan ended up being pivotal in diversifying and changing the London metropolitan police for the better, thanks to his sacrifice and work ethic. Red, White, and Blue is trying to tell us that we don’t always see the benefit of our commitment to the greater good. It takes time to effect change, but it’s always worth the effort.