Concrete Cowboy

Aiming to bring authenticity to the Philadelphia-set CREED, director Ryan Coogler sought out the city’s lesser-known and predominantly black sub-culture: street bike and ATV-riders.  He included actual members of this community in the movie’s memorable training sequence; their distinctive vehicles kept pace with the protagonist’s triumphant sprint.  Directed and co-written by Ricky Staub, CONCRETE COWBOY (an adaptation of Greg Neri’s novel, GHETTO COWBOY), focuses on the black cowboy culture in North Philadelphia.  Staub first became interested in the subject matter after seeing a rider outside his office window in Brewerytown in 2012.

To its credit, the picture focuses exclusively on black characters, the Fletcher Street stables serving as a backdrop for a traditional father/son bonding narrative.  After a pattern of disruptive behavior at school, Cole (Caleb McLaughlin) provokes his single mother, Amahle (Liz Priestley), into action.  She drives him from Detroit to Philadelphia to spend the summer with his estranged father, and Fletcher Street rider, Harp (Idris Elba).

Distant and taciturn, Harp keeps Cole at arms’ length, providing him with a couch to sleep on but little else.  Cole flounders in such an alien and inhospitable environment, seeking out the company of a childhood friend, Smush (the always-fantastic Jharrel Jerome).  At his core, Cole yearns for a sense of belonging to a larger community; if he can’t find it with his father, he’ll jump at the chance to reconnect with his troubled friend.  Smush recognizes the opportunity to snatch up scraps discarded by the larger dealers as they squabble for the corner territory left in the wake of gentrification.  Harp sees his younger (once incarcerated) self in Smush’s ambitions, and warns Cole to keep his distance; predictably, this ultimatum has the opposite effect.

CONCRETE COWBOY strains to show its audience the complexity beneath superficial impressions.  A rebellious gelding named “Boo” reveals a softer side after Cole makes a meaningful connection.  Leroy (Method Man) a rider-turned-cop, ultimately makes good with an unexpected act of leniency.  Smush’s seeming hot-headedness springs from a modest dream to escape from the perils of city life.  Harp is a father to everyone but his own son out of fear he’ll raise a younger version of himself.  It’s worth noting that the film grants few female characters equivalent depth; perhaps the closest is Nessi (Lorraine Toussaint), a rider who gives Cole warmth that he’s missing from his parents.

Criticisms about the narrative’s trajectory are valid; nowadays, any story that provides an optimistic, emotionally satisfying ending to its primary characters feels subversive.  If stables must be shuttered, can’t the aspiration of a little ranch in the country be within reach?  Realism in storytelling can be found in the authenticity of the characters themselves, divorced from the suffering that contemporary media conditions us to expect.  Staub had the sense to use authentic Fletcher Street riders to fill out a vibrant supporting cast.  Among them is an elderly man who recounts the forgotten history of the black and brown cowboys who populated the American west, lost to time—their identities whitewashed for the sake of public consumption.  One can’t help but wonder if CONCRETE COWBOY’s reliance on common tropes could’ve been avoided with a black director at its helm.

CONCRETE COWBOY is currently screening at the 45th Toronto International Film Festival.