Kings

The true-life backdrop is significantly more intriguing than the fictional story in Kings, a heavy-handed melodrama set during the weeks leading up to the 1992 riots in Los Angeles.

Perhaps ambition got the best of Turkish filmmaker Deniz Gamze Erguven (Mustang), whose muddled English-language debut falls flat despite a promising cast and a provocative concept.

The story centers on Millie (Halle Berry), a good-hearted foster mother who’s always taking in a melting pot of stray children from her working-class neighborhood, even if it makes her life overwhelming. Her efforts to keep them in line work more often than not.

Still, trouble is never far away, especially as the older kids become more socially and politically aware. They saw the video of black motorist Rodney King being beaten by white police officers, and they’re following the subsequent trial that resulted in an unlikely acquittal.

Soon afterward, as petty robbery turns into full-blown looting, the resulting violence hits close to home for Millie and her makeshift family, along with a cantankerous neighbor (Daniel Craig), as bonds become strained and priorities shift into survival mode.

The film vividly captures a gritty atmosphere of cultural tension and socioeconomic strife — with news coverage of the trial consistently buzzing in the background — although it doesn’t provide meaningful historical context or a distinct perspective regarding the volatile period it depicts. Plus, it rarely uses the inherent chaos to its advantage.

Instead, Erguven’s screenplay is frenetically paced yet lacking narrative urgency and focus, unintentionally sabotaging its intentions and rendering the result less impactful than it aspires to be. It offers a muddled depiction of delinquency and corruption that never fully commits to being either a thriller or a character-based drama.

The actors do their best with the material — especially some of the expressive youngsters — even if Craig is mostly squandered as a man whose transformation seems more forced than authentic. At any rate, the characters aren’t given sufficient depth to warrant much emotional investment, considering the circumstances.

More than a quarter century later, a handful of recent films have taken a fresh look at the King verdict and fallout, along with its ramifications today. In that regard, Kings feels like a missed opportunity.

Rated R, 92 minutes.