The prolific creator's latest film is a typically melodramatic, yet powerful and relevant, depiction of the systemic miseries that drive a hapless heroine into a police standoff.
Even die-hard fans of the tireless Tyler Perry sometimes wish he'd slow down a bit and focus on quality over quantity. But Netflix's "Straw" possesses a cultural urgency that elevates it above its usual repertoire of melodramatic comedies and dramas, despite its flaws. Starring Taraji P. Henson as a single mother burdened with more crises than one woman can handle in one day—resulting in a "Dog Day Afternoon"-style hostage situation—"Straw" exhibits the usual flaws of its writer-director-producer.
Director: Tyler Perry
Writer: Tyler Perry
Stars: Taraji P. Henson, Sherri Shepherd, Teyana Taylor
It's overloaded with plot devices, histrionics, and in-your-face messages, with an overabundance of everything. Yet what breaks the camel's back for this subdued heroine is a pent-up rage that seems particularly attuned to our political moment, when for many Americans it seems that social institutions have stopped pretending to serve citizens below a narrow economic elite. Thus, as it unfolds, her crisis has a cathartic power that far surpasses Perry's clumsy dramaturgical impulses. "Straw" is too chaotic to be "good," exactly, but it has a bitter relevance, and it works.
Twenty minutes in, Janiyah (Henson) reaches the inevitable shot of "Why have you forsaken me, God?", screaming at the camera. In the short time since she woke up, practically every bad thing possible has happened to her: she's suffered various petty abuses, been the victim of a car-rage accident, had her car impounded, lost a desperately needed job at a supermarket, watched Child Protective Services take her asthmatic daughter, Aria (Gabby Jackson), and evicted her from her dingy apartment for not paying rent. Crawling back to the home of an unsympathetic boss (Glynn Turman) for the wages she's still owed, she gets caught up in an armed robbery that ends with two dead—which isn't really her fault, but to the police it seems.
No longer able to reason, she returns to a bank she'd visited before, convinced that if only she could cash her check, the world would be right again. But bad luck follows: the employees assume, based on Janiyah's hysterical behavior (and the robbers' gun she's holding), that it's also a robbery. In rapid succession, the entrance closes, a silent alarm is triggered, and countless police cars with sirens wailing appear in the mall parking lot. Before she has time to clarify the situation, a TV monitor in the bank lobby shows live news, presenting her as the suspected perpetrator of a hostage crisis the entire city is watching.
All of this happens so frantically that less than half an hour has passed before one fears "Straw" is already exhausting her quota of screams, tears, and panic. This places a heavy burden on Henson, who does her best to sustain a role whose Job-like difficulties turn the angst up to 11 far too soon. There's also a large cast of supporting characters, many called upon to deliver shrill notes of hostility. With few friends or family to rely on, Janiyah has few allies in her life. When she's suddenly deemed a dangerous criminal, the only observers willing to look beyond that snap judgment are branch manager Nicole (Sherri Shepherd) and Detective Raymond (Teyana Taylor), a police officer who becomes the lead negotiator.
Everyone else assumes the worst of her, especially a grumpy teller (Ashley Versher) who undermines efforts for a peaceful resolution, and then the head of the FBI (Derek Phillips), who is determined to bring her down. Adding to the anxiety is the belief that Janiyah is carrying a bomb, when in fact the flashing, beeping object in her backpack is a child's school project. Adding to the headache for authorities is a camera phone inside the bank recording her anguished monologue explaining what brought her here, which is broadcast on local television, drawing a crowd of protesters outside. (This development underscores the possible inspiration for the 50-year-old true-life film "Dog Day.")
"Straw" isn't exactly Perry's most forgiving—last year's soapy thriller, "Divorce in the Black," clocked in at 143 minutes—but he still apparently can't resist shoehorning in any idea that pops into his head. This makes the movie feel overstuffed at first.
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