Review ‘Snowfall’: To Live, Love and Die in 1980 LA

And even though it doesn’t start As a touching and suspenseful family film, it evolved into a movie. The plot threads that followed the inner workings of a Mexican drug cartel and the Central American adventures of rogue CIA agent Reed (Carter Hudson) have been dropped, and the focus is entirely on Franklin and the fiend. his tight crew: his uncle is Jerome (Amin Joseph); Jerome’s girlfriend, Louie (Angela Lewis); his best friend and right-hand man, Leon (Isaiah John); and his mother, Cissy (Michael Hyatt).

And in the end, it’s the performers themselves that are the show’s almost secret weapon. Perhaps directed during the seasons to play poorly, they have consistently worked to resist any temptation to use cliché gestures and emotions. The central cast, led by Idris as the dangerously conflicted, reluctantly threatening Franklin, has created a quirky and believable collection of characters, and their emotional credibility they help you invest through dramatic and sudden twists and turns of the story. (Description of the actual drug business and fictional treatment of CIA involvement with it, not a documentary, is safe to say.)

Season 4 ended (revealed ahead) in chaos and violence: Franklin and Reed’s partnership was nearly exposed by a reporter; Reed killed the reporter but was later partially killed by Franklin’s father, who in turn was (presumably) killed by Reed. As Season 5 unfolds, Franklin clearly has it all behind him. He’s on top of his game, flying his own plane and running his semi-legal real estate company with his new girlfriend, Veronique (Devyn A. Tyler of “Clarice”), who is pregnant.

But success is the result of disaster on “Snowfall” – the harsh reality of Franklin’s American dream is that the wealthier and happier your family is, the more callous and paranoid you need to protect it. . The death of real-life basketball star Len Bias means that the public and law enforcement are suddenly starting to pay more attention to cocaine. Closer to home, life is complicated by the return of Reed (whose real name is Teddy), who is quickly returned to the good care of the CIA, and of Cissy, who wants to know why her son is here. back to work with his father. killer.

It doesn’t seem like any of this could end well, but it’s a dark, enjoyable ride that’s been etched in the meantime. “Snowfall” is partly about the collateral damage of true faith – the devastation born when Reed’s obsessive patriotism combines with Franklin’s unwavering determination to succeed. But as the battle goes on, there’s always love and friendship pulling down the trenches.