Chapter & Verse

Despite its familiarity, "Chapter & Verse" manages to make its material both fresh and authentic.

[A] tough/tender portrait of an ex-con attempting to find redemption in modern-day transitional Harlem.

Resonating with an authenticity borne of the experiences of its director/co-screenwriter Jamal Joseph, Chapter & Verse movingly portrays the plight of a recently released ex-con striving to make a new life for himself on the mean streets of Harlem.

The story, scripted by Beaty and poet/author-turned-filmmaker Jamal Joseph (who himself did five-and-a-half years in Leavenworth) dips into sloppy, melodramatic heavy-handedness, sullying the occasional spurts of fresh perspective.

The movie's wide-screen framing, ruthless plot reversals and say-what-you-mean writing sometimes recall a master of socially conscious cinema from another era, Sam Fuller. But this is a picture with its own strong voice.

Tender, heartfelt, well-acted and quietly powerful despite being slightly overstuffed with dramatic conflicts.

Beaty's original screenplay and performance stand out to make Chapter & Verse a remarkable chapter in African-American storytelling from the twenty-first century.

The utter realness of this story and the way it has been handled is the resonating strength of Jamal Joseph's gripping, affecting study of survival in today's Harlem.

Chapter &Verse is not simply a story about new beginnings. It's a film about all the ways things have changed for Black people (Black men in particular) and all of the ways that they have continued to remain the same.

An authentic look at street life in Harlem with the suggestion that the high incidence of crime results from the lack of male role models.

Earnest but over-familiar ex-con tries to go straight in Harlem tale.

A drama that has us cheering on an ex-con who is on a serious quest for a transformed life.