Night Catches Us

Hamilton drifts dangerously close to formula, and risks reducing her genuinely fascinating subject to a backdrop. But Mackie and Washington are too fine to let stock situations overtake them.

Its emotional center is the understanding that grows between Marcus and Patricia. They're good people, capable of useful lives, trying to free themselves from the chains of the past.

Add a terrific score supplied by the Roots and the movie has you in its grip.

Washington is well cast as the clipped, deflective den mother...

There is a lot to love about this film, starting with Mackie who is terrific as a man determined to leave the past in the past and move on with his life.