Driving While Black (2016)

Director: Paul Sapiano

Writer: Dominique Purdy, Paul Sapiano (Screenplay)

Starring: Dominique Purdy, Sheila Tejada, John Mead,  

 

Plot: DRIVING WHILE BLACK is a dark comedy, rooted deeply in reality… but not a reality that everybody is familiar with. Dimitri delivers Pizzas for a living – but as a young black man he is faced with “extra” challenges while navigating the city.

Runtime: 1 Hour 34 Minutes

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: Plenty of Chuckles

 

Story: Driving While Black starts as we meet pizza delivery man Dimitri (Purdy) a young black man that has always had the police hassle him through his childhood to adulthood in Hollywood. He has got to the stage where he just avoids cops on certain roads.

We follow Dimitri as he goes about his everyday life and how he constantly clashes with the police who seem to pull him over for no good reason.

 

Thoughts on Driving While Black

 

Characters – Dimitri is the young black pizza delivery man, he aspires to be an artist living in Hollywood. He has always been harassed by the police despite always being innocent, we follow his opinions on what is going on with the police incidents. We do meet the different police officers who are different stages of their careers and treat Dimitri in different ways.

Performances – Dominique Purdy is good in the leading role, he handles the comedy well hitting the jokes in nearly ever scene. Sheila Tejada seems to be the next biggest performer in the movie and she is good too in her as the cop trying to make the most of her career. The rest of the cast are good through the film.

Story – The story follows one black man’s struggle to have a normal life because he is always being hassled by the police for no reason. This shows the racial issues going on in neighbourhoods with racial profiling. It also shows how a string of coincidences can lead to mindsets within the police force, not over villainising the police too. This both sends an important message to both sides, first how to not become a victim and two how to not just make someone a suspect. Being told in a comedy which means nothing is as serious as it could be.

Comedy – Using the comic tone shows how people will react to ‘just another moment’ of racial profiling, Dimitri gives us the laughs through the film.

Settings – Set in and around Hollywood shows how the racial divide the people have towards each other.

Scene of the Movie – The time Dimitri gets pulled over with the flowers.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – We fact the times Dimitri doesn’t get pulled over he is doing the illegal driving things.

Final Thoughts – This is good comedy that tackles a serious racial matter in a light-hearted manner from start to finish.

 

Overall: Comedy that makes you laugh when it needs to.

Rating