Brian Banks (2019)

This film shows how the justice system can fail someone so easily.
Brian Banks (Aldis Hodge) might be out of prison, but his life is still pretty dreadful. He can't play football thanks to his shiny new ankle bracelet and because he's a registered sex offender, he can't be near schools or parks or fairs and as a result, finding jobs are impossible even Brian is actually a good guy (I suppose a few of those still exist). Now, usually rapists get off too easily (at least the cases that make the news), but in this case, Brian didn't actually rape the girl. The truth is devastating. Kennisha Rice (Xosha Roquemore) and Brian just went down there to make out, before it could turn into something more, a teacher comes into the staircase and Brian runs out before he can't get in trouble, leaving Kennisha pissed off. Her pride is probably sore but she turns her anger into lies and her mother doesn't help. So Brian is arrested and charged with plenty of crimes, including kidnapping. His lawyer urges him to accept a plea deal so he'll avoid prison time, but that is not the case. Brian spends six years in prison and then five years on probation.
The main plot of the time focuses not on his second chance at playing football, his ultimate dream, but rather getting his conviction overturned. He turns to the Innocence Project, where attorneys try to overturn convictions. And if this is not done before Brian's parole is up, he will remain a sex offender forever. Greg Kinnear is Justin Brooks, the main attorney and despite the abundance of evidence in Brian's favor, including the interviews of many other witnesses, it isn't enough. Even an illegally taped recant from Kennisha changes nothing. It takes meeting with the district attorney and getting some information out of Kennisha, without her mother present and the judge annoyed with the effort everyone put in to get his conviction overturned.
After that, it takes him a year but he finally gets his chance to play for the NFL.
This film shows how fickle the justice system is and how everything should be investigated as there was plenty of evidence which would have freed Brian and shame on his lawyer for giving him shitty advice. But the most shame rests with Kennisha. How dare you lie? How dare you gain sympathy for lying and ruining someone else's life in the process? You're despicable.
Now, given that Brian made his NFL debut in 2013, I'm surprised it took six years for this to appear on screen, but this film is excellent nevertheless with a brilliant performance from Hodge, playing against type. Sherri Shepherd and Melanie Liburd are great as the women in Brian's life and Morgan Freeman makes memorable little cameo. But the best part is seeing the old cell phones. Grade: B+
Side Notes:
-While it was necessary for the film to work, I do not believe that Karina (Liburd) and Brian could have just walked onto that football field.
-For someone who was awarded a $1.5 million lawsuit against the school, you would think Kennisha and her mother would look better and let the bitter feelings die away. You'd be wrong.
-Why in the world would Kennisha ever think a friend request on facebook and apology would cure her guilt and get Brian to like her again?
-Brian's brother is mentioned only once and never shown on screen. I guess they didn't want to hire an actor to play him.
-I now think that Hollywood needs to make a film that shows the opposite, a victim spending years working on gathering evidence to convict her rapist.