Blue Caprice: Review – PAFF 2014

“You know it’s not crazy to kill people, they do it everyday,” coldly explains Isaiah Washington’s shocking transformation as one-half of DC sniper John Muhammad in Alexandre Moors excellently directed Blue Caprice. The psychopathic rhetoric doesn’t become as important to the teacher than the student. Listening is a prematurely hardened Lee Malvo, portrayed superbly by General Hospital and Everyone Hates Chris star Tequan Richmond. That moment of dialogue comes after Malvo kills his first victim. This is where the point of Blue Caprice becomes clear. It’s goal is never to thoroughly explain reasoning behind the 2002 Beltway Sniper Attacks but to cinematically profile how one man’s sociopathic ideologies can dangerously influence weaker individuals.

Primarily focused around Malvo, he’s pretty much left abandoned and homeless when viewers are introduced to the teen. There’s a level of isolation and desperation that’s gives context to his first meeting with Muhammad who takes him under his wing. Following a move further north the eventual attacks’ location (Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C.), Muhammad’s armed forces background and mental breakdown combine serve as a catalyst for destruction. Being brainwashed by the twisted logic, Malvo goes from 16-year-old hopeless immigrant to cold murderer. The relationship feels organically paternal thanks to great chemistry between Washington and Richmond. Both give off the feeling of a father-and-son bond that transitions between emotionally tender moments and shocking acts of terror at a moments notice. There isn’t a better example than the scene of Muhammad giving Malvo driving lessons after the teen kills a restaurant owner for money to purchase the film’s titular vehicle. Partly due to director Alexandre Moors’ direction and R.F.I. Porto’s screenplay, Malvo comes off as a obedient child emotionally taken advantage off.

Washington perfectly comes off as a manipulative force for Blue Caprice’s duration. Those subtile eye moments and way of lending power to words without raising his voice come off as incredibly chilling. There’s almost a charismatic insanity that makes Muhammad’s influence on Malvo utterly believable throughout the film’s 133 minutes. Following the Grey’s Anatomy  controversy, it was safe to say that Washington’s time in Hollywood was pretty much over. From the standpoint of Blue Caprice, he has delivered the comeback performance of his career. However, it’s Richmond who becomes the film’s breakout star. Compared to the lightweight fair of his previous on-screen performances, filling in the shoes of Malvo was risky. Looks like the gamble paid off as he officially proves he’s ready for some challenging roles. Richmond gets some of Malvo’s quiet mannerisms down to a science nearly. When Malvo gets his hands on a gun for the first time, there’s a blank stare that’s bares an insane undercurrent before Muhammad’s grueling military like training.

Of course, everything leads up to the attacks before both are caught and tried. Moors lends an heightened tension to scenes involving the greasily murders from both killer and victim point of views. There are some very claustrophobic scenes involving the murders as Malvo and Muhammad fired cowardly from the trunk of the box chevy. There are some nail-bitting scenes as viewers will undoubtedly fear for unsuspecting victims.

Many films have given their take on the catastrophic shootings that frightened an area enough for people to stay indoors from for almost a month. Not one has given a visceral look this thematically complex. Blue Caprice isn’t going to unveil new details or even excuse actions of its terrorist minded criminals. It’s a character study of a disadvantaged child guided in the worst possible direction by a hateful individual.