Barriers (1998) User Reviews

An earnest film with some weaknesses.

[moveefrk · 6/10 · 14 April 2005]

"Barriers" is at times, an effective little tale with a lot of ambition and a lot of heart, but which seems curiously muted and sometimes misses the impact it so desperately needs. The material should make a harsher statement about the struggles of race, class and gang violence, but seems oddly toned down as if to keep it "safe" for its targeted youth audience. Considering the profanity used for realism, why didn't director Alan Baxter and writer Charles Ricciardi go for broke in achieving more realism and stronger depth?

Another problem is the lead performance by young Jamaul Roots should have been a little more convincing. Roots plays "Tori", the overprotected, shy protagonist who is consistently bullied by the local thugs until one of them, a kid named "Snake", (well-played by Geoff Garcy) defends him. Roots plays him just a little too annoyed and not really sympathetic. Yes, we see that this kid doesn't make a lot of friends and seems too angry at his parents' smothering, but a hobby would've really improved his plight (and one not involving arcade games) or better yet, maybe a trip to the counselor's office or a really angry confrontation with his parents.

Garcy adds a considerable amount of complexity as "Snake", the gang youth who may not be the punk that everyone else assumes he is. His act of "theft" is clearly motivated by need instead of amorality, and it's actually the need for acceptance from his volatile brother (Derrick Roberts) a gang member who sees him as weak and soft. Roberts is indeed the strongest element of the film and gives the film its shot of hardcore adrenaline.

Golden plays Phil, the middle-aged college student who is hired by Tori's parents to care for him and credit goes to her for being a strong presence. She's tough, yet vulnerable and doesn't come off as a victim or put-upon. But the scene where she tells off her cheating boyfriend fails to impress, due to the scant dialog and the overall staginess of the acting. In fact, a fight in a schoolyard almost comes across as comical, particularly when a young girl has her hands covering her eyes and mouth(!). There are a few scenes that do resonate with truth and force; one being when Phil confronts Tori's father about the missing credit card numbers and a scene where Tori seeks comfort from Phil even after the consequences of honesty have forced her out of a job. The film's humor and even heart comes from a cameo by the late gay writer Quentin Crisp as an elderly store clerk who contemplates his mortality.

Overall, "Barriers" has its strengths, and it is refreshing that a character-driven story was being told, but a low-budget, character-driven story should never play by the rules.

**1/2

"Barriers" is an engaging film that explores the economic divide between two African-American boys who might have remained friends and survived in a different time and place.

[Robinzgrl2 · 9/10 · 18 June 2005]

I love this film, and so do my students. I teach an English Composition class at Technical Career Institutes. Whenever I show "Barriers" to my writing students, they are inspired to write their own essays, their own (sadly similar) stories. "Barriers" raises the question of what is it going to take? What will it take for us to finally reach out to one another across the artificial divides of race or economics? Plus it's just a darn good story, a tear-jerker minus the sentimentality. It's worth the ride.

"Barriers" is a thought-provoking film that forces us to question just how real are the supposed "barriers" we have erected between us. Friendship, family, relationships, life on the upper east side of Manhattan, "thug life" as a result of economic strife and the lust for power, etc.--all woven together in a compelling story with something for everyone. Bring a hanky, and then hug the children or young people in your life. Listen to them and learn how to sever the roots of needless tragedy.

My only criticism would be that the actress who played Tori's mother was bland, unfeeling, just not believable in the role, given the dire circumstances. Still, her interpretation of the role did not detract from the overall effectiveness of the film.

A movie well worth viewing.

[mazola52 · 8/10 · 8 September 2005]

DISCRIMINATION, THE SILENT KILLER. The movie Barriers, which was produced in 1998, has helped to strengthen my belief that discrimination often starts in the home. It is a destructive seed that is planted in the mind of youths where it finds fertile soil and grows into massive 'trees'. These may manifest themselves as immaturity and often leads to self-destruction. In my opinion everyone should see this very engrossing movie, particularly our youths. It opens with a fight among the children where one of the main characters, Tori, is being bullied. He is saved from this embarrassment by Snake, one of the youths who sees in Tori, the image of the person that he would like to be. Both Snake and Tori, this unlikely pair, have needs. Snake has the need to be a better person and have friends outside of his family and his current circle of friends. His mother is uncaring, and his elder brother bullies him into carrying out illegal acts, which he executes out of fear. Tori brings a measure of sobriety into his life. Discrimination is apparent as we observe Tori's father seeking to keep his son away from the other children at school and in the neighborhood. The father recognizes that his family is more affluent and tries to institute a form of classism on his son. This has an adverse effect, as Tori is intent upon having Snake as his friend, no doubt being attracted to the freedom that he exhibits. In some sinister way this classism brings about a tragedy, which is the death of two youths, one of whom robbed himself and the other, the opportunity to live a full life to manhood. I could have found myself in similar straights because of an incident which I encountered as a child. As I think about it now, I am sure that the little white boy who sat next to me in church had similar seeds of destruction planted in his head. He was living in a predominantly black neighborhood and he and his family were the only white people that lived there. No doubt his guardians had warned him about the horrid black people among whom he lived, and had convinced him that he was a better person. During the service he took one look at me with a scowl and spat in my face. I instantly became livid but had the good sense to restrain myself from committing the sacrilegious act of fighting in church. The score was settled afterwards when my brother and I followed him to a lonely spot on the way home. I cuffed him repeatedly in an attempt to relieve myself of the rage that I felt. I never saw him again after that day and wondered if he had died because my knuckles were hurting so much. In a way I was suffering mentally just as he was suffering physically, all because of the discrimination that was rooted in him. The movie graphically shows the ill effects of discrimination. Snake who was discriminated against is shot by his brother as he tries to protect his friend Tori from being shot. This pictorial representation of discrimination is well executed by Mr. Alan Baxter, and viewers are held spell bound as the scenes unfold to show the ill effects of discrimination and reminded me of the silliness of my childhood encounter with racialism.