Ricardo (Stephan James), aka Ricky has had a tough life. He was sent to prison at the age of 15, for murder in a robbery gone wrong. As the film begins we meet him the day he is released from prison at age 30. The world is a very different place compared to when he went to jail. It’s disorienting to say the least. Moving back home with his mom Joanne (Sheryl Lee Ralph) and younger brother James (Maliq Johnson), Ricky is determined to better himself and keep his nose clean. Of course, this isn’t easy. The combination of a dizzying amount of freedom and a crippling lack of options is frustrating. Directed and co-written by Rashad Frett with co-writer Lin Que Ayoung, Ricky is a solid piece of filmmaking to be sure but it plays it safe by not charting any new territory.
After being released, Ricky’s singular task is to reintegrate into society. He needs to make his support group meetings, find a regular job, and never miss a meeting with Angie (Donna Glaesener) his pit bull of a parole officer. Things start off with a bit of promise. Childhood friend Terrence (Sean Nelson) has hired him to work at his distribution center. But before you know it, Terrance has to let him go. Undaunted, Ricky has dreams of becoming a barber. He meets Jaz (Imani Lewis), an incredulous single mom with a tough exterior. Jaz asks Ricky trim her son’s hair and, eventually, trust is established.
We connect with Ricky as we see the struggles facing a newly released prisoner. This is something that the film does quite well. Our leading man soon learns that it takes more than good intentions to find clients, much less keep them as a regular source of income. His blue sky aspirations are met with hard realities. The truth is that everyone on the outside is living in their own sort of prison, hemmed in my age, health, circumstance, or addiction.
Ricky is a good film that could have been greater than it is. As writers, Frett with co-writer Ayoung do an adequate job putting our titular character through the wringer. We see his flaws in the way his sheltered, underdeveloped psyche interprets and processes day to day struggles. In once scene, a random comment from his younger brother sends Ricky into a senseless rage. But the competent script misses the chance to anything new to the table.
The good news is that the performances are amazing. James is fine as the lead. But the rest of the cast really steps it up with raw, emotional performances. Lewis‘ Jaz is a defensive and suspicious mom, yet you can see she has a soft heart. Johnson plays younger brother James with a certain brash ignorance of his brother’s perspective. Ralph‘s Joanne is a well meaning if terribly flawed mother who simply wants to save her son. But for me the standout was Glaesener as parole officer Angie. Her scenes hit the balance between cold reality and compassion with brutal honesty that the film needed.
While Frett‘s script for Ricky is pretty average, I was truly impressed with his work from the director’s chair. He captures certain subtleties, nuances between characters that often get missed. His staging of a particular car accident leaves you breathless and in shock. To be fair, the characters here are all wonderful. The message of being more accommodating to those trying to make good after serving a sentence is heard. But the story takes few chances and shows us nothing we haven’t seen before.
RICKY Review Rating: 6/10