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The opening credits—with funky bursts of color, set to “Papa Was a Rolling Stone”—promise a blaxploitation-era sensibility, so it’s a shame that all we get is a soggy retread of a hundred killer-with-a-heart-of-gold narratives. It’s perhaps no small matter that in this case the killer is a black woman—Mary (Taraji P. Henson), an enforcer for a Boston crime boss (Danny Glover), who turns herself into the protector of a 12-year-old boy named Danny (Jahi Di’Allo Winston) whom she orphaned after one of her hits. She also inadvertently instigates a mob war between her boss and the Russian mafia, which kicks up the action for a few extended shootouts. But while young Winston gives a welcome edge to the relationship between Mary and Danny, there’s not enough time spent on the kind of person Mary was before Danny theoretically changes her. If you’ve seen Leon (The Professional), you’ve already seen the blend of action and sentiment that this movie is trying to sell. By the time Proud Mary finally gets around to playing the Tina Turner version of the title song, you’ll be wishing that the movie itself had more of that tune’s funky bounce.
Official Site: www.proudmary-movie.com
Director: Babak Najafi
Producer: Paul Schiff, Tai Duncan, Taraji Henson and Glenn Gainor
Cast: Taraji Henson, Billy Brown, Jahi Winston, Neal McDonough, Margaret Avery, Xander Berkeley, Rade Serbedzija, Erik Harvey, Danny Glover, Adobuere Ebiama, Owen Burke, Bo Cleary, Therese Plaehn, James Milord, Alex Portenko, Gene Ravvin, Airon Armstrong, Jose Gonsalves, Kevin O'Peterson, Vladimir Orlov and Al'Jaleel McGhee
Director: Babak Najafi
Producer: Paul Schiff, Tai Duncan, Taraji Henson and Glenn Gainor
Cast: Taraji Henson, Billy Brown, Jahi Winston, Neal McDonough, Margaret Avery, Xander Berkeley, Rade Serbedzija, Erik Harvey, Danny Glover, Adobuere Ebiama, Owen Burke, Bo Cleary, Therese Plaehn, James Milord, Alex Portenko, Gene Ravvin, Airon Armstrong, Jose Gonsalves, Kevin O'Peterson, Vladimir Orlov and Al'Jaleel McGhee
