Charm City Kings

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By India Bartram

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Charm City Kings is a coming of age story following fourteen-year-old Mouse, who is growing up in Baltimore Maryland. The film is directed by Angel Manuel Soto and the screenplay was written by Sherman Payne. It is available to watch on HBO Max.

The film begins with footage of Mouse’s older brother Stro doing crazy and impressive dirt bike tricks. Mouse is watching this on his phone, and we realize that it is a video commemorating Stro’s life. The first action in the films Mouse buying his own run-down bike and then getting pulled over by the police. From here we are introduced to the people in Mouse’s life like his police mentor, Detective Rivers, his mom, his sister and his two best friends, Sweartagawdyhh and Lamont. Throughout the film, a divide between the two sides of Mouse’s life develops. His interest in being a veterinarian and his mentorship from Detective Rivers gets overshadowed by his passion for dirt bikes and his new mentor Blax. What starts as a passion for dirt bikes, turns into a series of events involving drug dealing, robbery and violence.

The heart of this film is in the relationships Mouse has with the people around him. The banter between him, Lamont and Sweartagawdyhh is comical and natural. I found myself chuckling out loud during the first introductions these characters. The other interesting relationship Mouse has is with the new girl in the neighborhood, Nicki. Their awkward, but sweet budding romance perfectly captured what it’s like to grapple with feelings as a young adolescent.

These relationships were established very well at the beginning of the film. This is what had me hooked for about 20 minutes into the story. Unfortunately, at a certain point the film slowed down too much for me and lost this energy. Although there were action packed plot points, they weren’t backed up by strong motivation or character development. But, I think the story came back together at the intense and heartbreaking end of the film. In one of the last scenes Mouse runs home to his mother and breaks down in tears. This was one of the best performances by both Jahi Di’Allo Winston (Mouse) and Teyonah Parris (Terri, Mouse’s mother). It was so raw and real and acted as a perfect cathartic moment for Mouse after all the tragedy and conflict he faced.

The problem I had with the ending is that it seemed like Mouse wasn’t able to find a balance of the two parts of his life. Throughout the film it really seemed like he was supposed to choose either being involved with Detective Rivers/working at the veterinarians and being involved with his friends/riding dirt bikes. It seemed as though one was framed as being a good thing and the other as an evil thing. In the end, he really only seemed to be on one of the sides. Why couldn’t he have it all?

I think although this film had an engaging premise and an emotional ending, it fell short throughout the middle. I think if the filmmakers just quickened the pace of the film, it would have had more energy and would have made the film that much more impactful. I would recommend giving it a watch mostly because of the complicated and beautiful relationships Mouse has with the people around him and because it is a unique coming of age story.