Rob Peace is a well-intentioned, good-hearted film about a young black man admitted to Yale while trying to find a way to get his dad out of prison. It’s produced and directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor and he does a good job… though the script feels a little loose and unfocused at times.

It’s a good film, well acted and it feels like it’s going somewhere… if a little haphazardly. I never knew quite where it was heading though it’s based on a true story and a book about this young man’s life. It doesn’t really feel like a biopic so much as a drama about getting by day-by-day, staring down the casual racism at Yale and fighting the justice system.

My one real complaint faces an uphill battle. I love that the film is about a young black man trying to succeed in Yale. I just wish it could be an aspiration tale of black struggle that didn’t include a drug subplot. While I know this is a true story so its just following reality, maybe there’s an aspirational tale about young black men that doesn’t include drugs and crime?

And yet this is the story Chiwetel Ejiofor wanted to make and apparently it’s all true so who am I to argue reality and inspirational tales that also act as an object lesson?

All I know for sure is that I enjoyed it regardless of my personal insignificant beefs. It’s well acted, well written, and emotionally strong. I like it as a casual examination of racism and the general idea of a young man struggling against his background to succeed at Yale. It’s a good picture.

Score: 83