Hard Times

Boyd (The Weight) excels with this gritty tale of a corrupt cop, a well-meaning high school teacher, and the violence faced by Black teens on Chicago’s South Side. Curtis Thompson is a beat cop who has been promoted to the Drug and Gang Task Force. His brother-in-law, Buddy Mack, teaches high-school English. One of Buddy’s students, Terrence “T-Rock” Latimore, gets killed after he’s suspected of ratting out drug smuggler Rob Jackson to police officers. Curtis, meanwhile, has been taking hush money from a sergeant who’s in league with Rob. After surveilling Rob’s house, Curtis and his partner follow two teens when they leave the building, suspecting them of trafficking. After a botched arrest, the teens flee, and Curtis shoots one in the back. Curtis’s victim turns out to be Rob’s nephew and Buddy’s student, Truth Jackson, a basketball prospect who hopes to escape the life of crime Rob has been preparing him for. Truth survives, and Curtis is forced to take a desk job while Internal Affairs investigates the shooting along with Curtis’s role in the department’s corruption. Boyd’s stark realism and fatalistic view of the characters’ milieu makes the hopeful ending all the more triumphant. This one hits hard. Agent: Warren Frazier, John Hawkins & Assoc. (Mar.)