Deidra and Laney Rob a Train
Director - Sydney Freeman
Writer - Shelby Farrell
Starring - Ashleigh Murray, Rachel Crow, Tim Blake Nelson, Sasheer Zamata, David Sullivan, Danielle Nicolet
"Shut up. You rob trains too so you need to stop whining."
Programming Note: This is not a "new" Netflix release. This has been on Netflix since March. If you've never heard of it, you weren't missing much.
Deidra and Laney is very similar to Rick Famuyiwa's 2015 film Dope. A black A-level high student is thrust into a life of crime that threatens their grades and way of life and goes to desperate lengths to come out of the whole ordeal successful while the film leans heavily on influences ranging from Wes Anderson to Quentin Tarantino to Spike Lee and ends up commenting on the societal influences leading black youth into the world of crime anchored by a terrific leading performance from an essentially unknown actor. The difference between Dope and Deidra and Laney is in the execution. While Dope is exhilarating breaking free of its influences to create one of the most memorable film experiences of the last few years (the Rewind Cue contains more style and substance than most movies have in their entire running time) Deidra and Laney uses the influences as crutches, propping up a mediocre story before ultimately settling into a mode than can best be described as Disney live-action children's film.
