If you haven't heard poetry slam before, stop reading this review and watch the trailer for this film. Now that you've got a taste, how could you not want to see this film? These kids are some of the brightest, competing against hundreds of other equally bright kids. And this documentary only chronicles the Louder than a Bomb poetry slam in Chicago. Think about how many kids like these are in the rest of the country. It gives you hope.
Directors Greg Jacobs and Jon Siskel (nephew of Gene Siskel) followed a selection of competitors over the 2007-08 season. We watch as they prepare for the slam. We see their home lives, some are good and others have their challenges. We watch as they start in the quarterfinals and root for their success. But soon the competition becomes secondary to the human stories.
Nate Marshall is the son of two recovering drug addicts who found his voice in rhyme. He had a chance to play basketball, but chose to dedicate his time to working on his poetry and rap. At one point, he says he'd like to be a college professor… or a rap star… or maybe both. While he is a superior poet, he gains equal joy in helping his classmates raise their game to his level so they can see the view with him.
Nova Venerable is a tough kid. But there are reasons. Her estranged father created a huge burden on her; making her care for him and never showing her that he cared in the least. Meanwhile, her mother worked several jobs to make it possible for her and her little brother Cody, who suffers from a host of disorders, to stay with her full time. Nova hasn't seen her father since she was 12 and now a senior she is still writing about him. She has had to grow up fast. She says she isn't bitter, but we wonder. Poetry gives her tools to express herself without lashing out and a moment where she can escape.
Adam Gottlieb is a Jewish dynamite. His enthusiasm and positive energy just pours out of him when he is simply sitting in a chair. His goal in life is to make the world a better place and he lives that promise everyday. In Louder than a Bomb, he is like a rock star. It's mainly because he is there to hear poetry and make friends with people who are different than him. Poet seems like the perfect career path for him.
The Steinmenauts are the slam team from the inner city school Steinmetz. The year prior they came into the competition for the first time as underdogs and shocked everyone by winning the whole competition. Lamar Jorden is their charismatic leader. Poetry flows out of his effortlessly. He performs it with great passion. But he says that his teammate Kevin Coval is better than him. Kevin, however, ponders every word he writes and struggles to produce one line while others have written volumes. With these talents, the team also has Jesus Lark, She'Kira McKnight and Big C, who are a force as a team.
As we get to know these kids, we start rooting for them. But we wonder about a competition that gives points Olympic-style to poetry. The organizers pick the judges on the street. So how fair is it really? These kids hang their dreams on this competition, which is judged at the whim of someone who might not know the difference between a metaphor and simile. And yet it doesn't matter. At the start of the competition the organizers say the point is not the point but the poetry. At first we disregard it as a nice platitude and by the end we believe it as a truth.
These kids are great at what they do. There is one poem in the film that sticks out so powerfully. And the thing about that is that poem for you might be different than the one I'm thinking of. This film filled me with such joy. The adjectives simply flow from my mind. Uplifting. Powerful. Inspiring. Important.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
