In the summer of 1988, I went into a Copeland’s Sporting Goods in Berkeley and bought five pairs of Air Jordans. At the time, the Michael Jordan trademark footwear had waaaaay saturated the market for basketball shoes and the overstocked shelves of certain stores needed to free up space. I paid $17.50 a pair. Seriously. I should have bought more. I should have bought up the first generation pairs of black & red in all sizes, but I found them hideous. My (general) thinking was, “just because this style is outdated doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with the shoe.” I proceeded to wear each pair into the ground over the course of the next three our four years. Had I but known these things would appreciate in value like the works of Pablo Picasso, I would have purchased every.single.pair.
Brandon, a.k.a. “Lil B,” (Jahking Guillory) covets Air Jordans like King Midas coveted gold. Actually, the undersized and extremely poor high schooler desires any pair of decent Kicks, but the first generation Jordans are his grail. Have you ever gone to a store just to look at the merchandise you can’t afford? This is B’s favorite pastime. Somewhat astonishing is the social status tied to a pair of decent shoes. I’d say the quiet Troy Polamalu-haired kid is outsized and often intimidated by strangers, but the truth is he’s outsized and often intimidated by his own friends, Albert (Christopher Jordan Wallace) and Rico (Christopher Meyer). The other two mostly talk about sex, the difference being Albert is getting some while Rico is not. Several conversations begin
with Rico mentioning something sexual, Albert putting him in his place and B participating in the conversation only by expression. For however ridiculous Rico’s claims for needing supersize condoms, B ‘s sexuality is not even on the radar. No shoes = no game. Don’t sweat it, kid, at least you got an excuse.
Naturally, B saves his pennies, literally, and takes advantage of, well, something one should never try at home. If a seedy guy gives you a “pssst!” and unveils a sliding-door van full of Nikes? Run. This is not the time to make a deal. And why is the kid parading around residential Richmond with hundreds of dollars, anyway? And how could the roaming –for lack of a better term- “street vendor” possibly have his size? Forget all that and focus on B’s short-lived bliss. For an afternoon, perhaps even a full day, life is sweet for the local runt. Alas, a thuggish, armed and accompanied hood named Flaco (Kofi Siriboe) decides the shoes are fair game, and B loses shoes, face and health in about thirty seconds. Flaco and the shoes quickly depart for Oakland (home of me!).
Time to go to Oakland, kid. I’ll be waiting there for ya. I love how this film is described only as an “adventure.” Oakland is an adventure, is it? Yes, I suppose some times it is. “This film is Rated R for Oakland.”
I like the simplicity of Kicks. Kid wants shoes. Shoes become MacGuffin. Simple. Plot doesn’t need more than that. What I didn’t like was B. Kicks asks us to sympathize with him purely out of circumstance. Yeah, I feel bad for the poverty and the fact that his parents are pretty-much absent. For the most part, adults are darn near non-existent in this world. I sympathize with the fact that he saved and saved and *poof* there it all goes. That’s a story anybody can get behind. Where it loses me is that justice turns into vengeance and vengeance requires collateral damage. B does precious little self-reflecting in the process of attempting to scale his personal Everest … and he kind of expects his friends and kin to go with him on his suicidal quest even though his personality is barely tolerated as is.
And what happens if you get the shoes back, B? You lost them in a day. It took just one single day for a group of thugs to identify you as a target. What next?
A note to writer/director Justin Tipping: hi. My name is Jim. I don’t want to sound condescending, because I’d be proud AF if I made Kicks, yet I feel an affinity because nobody films Oakland who isn’t a local and I wanted to speak to you as someone who sees your promise as an artist. The good: you have a strong handle on conflict and motivation. Don’t lose these; all
film requires them. You also understand depth of character; there are polished directors –and a few famous ones at that—who still haven’t figured out people can be complex. The not-so-good: the astronaut who keeps showing up as B’s metaphorical dream self – that doesn’t work. Now, I liked that it was there, because in the future, I’ll be able to separate Kicks from other inner-city drama as “the one with the pointless astronaut,” but the metaphor doesn’t work and detracts from the message of the film. Also, your portrayals of the feminine are, to be kind, ridiculously one-dimensional. If you ever do make bigger films, you’re gonna run into the Bechdel folks sooner than later, and if you keep writing females as either vixens or baby-makers and nothing more, I’ll be rooting for them.
Finally, I want a reason to like B other than circumstance. I know he’s drowning in expectations and the weight of manhood and poverty and desire and whatever. Can you give me any reason to like him … other than “he’s been wronged?” A lot of people are wronged in this world, especially people of color. And a lot of people don’t set up their friends while seeking retribution. I’d love it if B even said one memorable thing in the film. Can’t make that happen? How about giving him a hobby, maybe? A personality trait? A desire towards something altruistic? A defense? Anything? Anything that cannot be interpreted as self-centered, or at least endearing. I’d like that.
♪Sometimes I dream
A footwear theme
You’ve got to know those shoes ain’t what they seem
I dream I own, my money blown
On Nikes
If I could wear Mike’s Nikes
Yes, Nikes
I want to own Mike’s Nikes♫
Rated R, 80 Minutes
D: Justin Tipping
W: Joshua Beirne-Golden, Justin Tipping
Genre: Turf-toe wars
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Inner city teens
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Adults responsible for parenting/policing inner city teens
♪ Parody inspired by “I Wanna Be Like Mike”
