Sunday, April 1, 2007

The Rosses

There will be no coattail-riding in this family.

I saw Pride last night, the film about Jim Ellis, a black swim coach in the 70's who founded a competitive all black swim team in a rough area of Philadelphia. Of course, it was a tale of overcoming racism, overcoming one's past, and inspiring hope in a community. Okay, okay, GREAT film, but that is not why I am writing.

Even more inspiring than this powerful film is my growing affection for one, Evan Ross, son to Diana, brother to Tracee. I am a huge fan of the 2006 film ATL in which Evan first made an impression on me as an Atlanta teen named Ant. As any fool knows, I think the world of Tracee Ellis Ross, so when I found that her little brother would be starring in a film with the fine T.I. under the direction of Chris Robinson (a music video director), I was even more interested. I fell in love with the movie, it's characters, the individual actors, and certainly, Evan Ross. I have probably seen ATL 10 times thanks to HBO and Cinemax and it was no question that I was eager to see anything in which he had a role.

Enter Life Support, the HBO film released last month that focuses on the devastating AIDS crisis and how it effects families. Evan played a convincing AIDS victim, famished, weak, off his meds, and clearly not "living with AIDS" but dying from it. He was amazing and once again, I was impressed. (I am not here to write a review of the film, but it is a breathtaking must-see.) Last night solidified my admiration. In "Pride," each young man on the swim team has a a personality, a story, none of them are bad looking, and the acting was flawless. But I couldn't keep from looking into Evan's eyes, watching his talent unfold even when he didn't even speak. As an actor, he stands alone and he stands strong, and as biased as I may be because I am awe-struck by his fabulous sister, he has won me over in under a year with his undeniable onscreen abilities.

Just listen to this excerpt from an article in the Detroit News:

"Every now and then, you see someone and you think you are watching them at the very beginning of a big career,"[a media and pop culture expert] says. "I watched every episode of 'St. Elsewhere.' It was amazing how little that show used Denzel Washington, and I never got that sense watching him that here is a really big star. I didn't get it when I watched Jim Carrey in the sitcom 'Duck Factory.' "Evan Ross is 18 years old, and you can see this guy could really be a big star. … If I was asked to invest in the futures market of stars, he would be a good bet."


In 2007 and early '08, he has at least 4 films coming out: "Life is Hot in Cracktown," "Brooklyn to Manhattan," "Gardens of the Night" and "Burning Sands" If they are anything like the first 3, you won't be disappointed.

There seems to be no coattail riding in the Ross family.


1 comment:

Vicarious-leigh said...

I finally saw Pride last night with Chris. We had rented like 6 movies to watch over the weekend. We hated every last one of them- until the last movie, Pride. OMG!!! This movie was the ISH! If you have not seen it, you have to. We watched it at 11 last night, and anyone who knows me know that is WAY past my bedtime. That movie was so freaking good. Quite possibly one of the best movies I have seen in the PAST year or 2. SEE IT! OWN IT!!!