Marshall and the Movies

Justin Chon’s “Gook” is a film brimming with insight, energy and anger – but ultimately one without the resources or the know-how to make the Molotov cocktail of ideas combust. The story of understanding across generations and races as the 1992 Los Angeles riots come to a head has undeniable sincerity and good intentions. It also bears the marks of a novice filmmaker, veering wildly between the poles of undercooked and overwrought.

In addition to his roles behind the camera, Chon also stars as the protagonist of “Gook,” shoe store owner Eli. Over the course of a sweltering summer day, he must deal with his lazy brother, a bitter cashier across the street and the 11-year-old black girl Kamilla intent on hanging by his side. The film is best when it simply allows his harried day to play out, giving us a look into the overstretched Eli’s attempts to please everyone around him while still making enough money to keep his business open.

But everything else in “Gook” gets a little sloppy, including the incorporation of the riots that give the film its gravitas. These tense conflicts loom in the background and bear on the plot, yet the way they made an entire city combustible doesn’t quite seep into every nook and cranny of the film. It’s little more than a nice backdrop, in other words.

Chon’s film includes highly stylized moments that feel ripped out of a Kendrick Lamar music video, most notably the scenes where time seems to stand still – and Kamilla dances with the abandon of someone who has just learned the true meaning of freedom. His script also works in plenty of on-the-nose dialogue exchanges between Eli and his elders. He’s got talents in both fields, but their juxtaposition in “Gook” simply doesn’t work. The solution? Let Chon make two more movies where he’s allowed to explore each side of his filmmaking persona to its logical end. B- /