Brian Banks (2018) User Reviews (67)

him too

[ferguson-6 · 6/10 · 8 August 2019]

Greetings again from the darkness. With the momentum of the #MeToo movement, and the attention being paid to harassment and discrimination in all walks of life, there really is no better time for a film that tells the story of Brian Banks. We are counseled to believe women as they recount their heart-breaking and life-altering stories, and it's Mr. Banks' story that reminds us what should matter in all situations ... truth and justice.

Brian was a 16 year old football star at Polytechnic High School in Long Beach, California when Wanetta Gibson (renamed Kennisha Rice in the movie) accused him of rape on school grounds. Banks was expelled from school, lost his athletic scholarship to USC, and poor legal advice led him to a plea bargain that resulted in his serving a 5 year prison sentence and another 5 years on restrictive probation. From day one, Brian Banks never wavered in the proclamation of his innocence.

In his situation, the only way for Brian to get some semblance of his life back was exoneration by the judge; and the only way that could happen would be new evidence or a recant of testimony by the accuser. Justin Brooks (played here by Greg Kinnear), the founder of the California Innocence Project, was touched by Brian's story, but just couldn't find a way to help. Surely the film offers some dramatization of actual events, but Brian Banks and his story are fascinating on many levels ... and it makes for a though-provoking and inspirational 99 minutes.

Banks was a convicted man whose own conviction of his innocence is proof of just how strong the human spirit can be. Director Tom Shadyac (PATCH ADAMS 1998, ACE VENTURA: PET DETECTIVE 1994) had his own life-altering event, and it's partly why this is his first narrative feature in more than a decade. It's likely the "second chance at life" hit home, and the script from Doug Atchison (AKEELA AND THE BEE, 2006) manages to hit the high and low points experienced by Banks and his single mom (played by Sherri Shepherd), who never lost faith.

Aldis Hodge ("City on a Hill") is outstanding as Brian Banks. He perfectly conveys the multitude of feelings of a man so confounded by a life gone wrong - yet so dedicated to staying on the right path despite all obstacles. In addition to the aforementioned Greg Kinnear and Sherri Shepherd, Melanie Liburd shines as Karina - Brian's new romantic interest (who shares her own story of past sexual abuse), and Xosha Roquemore performs admirably and memorably in the thankless role of Kennisha Rice. It should also be noted that Morgan Freeman has a cameo as a prison counselor who makes an impact on Brian.

The film begins with Brian explaining that he never really knew what "freedom" meant until it was taken from him, and then he re-gained it. That's a powerful statement, and it nicely corresponds to another lesson the film provides: "All you can control in life is how you respond to life." The film may be a bit glossy at times, but its message and its central character are inspirational ... and a source for further important discussions.

"Perspective is the key to how one fares in life."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 22 January 2020]

This is the kind of story that is just so incredibly frustrating to watch. What happened to Brian Banks (Aldis Hodge) was a complete injustice, but what's inspirational is the way Brian handled his incarceration and probation over the course of a decade while trying to clear his name. Morgan Freeman's presence in the picture reminded me of the role he portrayed in "Shawshank Redemption", although the films themselves aren't remotely the same. His words of encouragement to Brian should be memorized and considered by everyone facing a difficult ordeal - "All you can control in life..., is how you respond to life". Fortunately, in Brian's case, his patience, fortitude and persistence led to a favorable outcome, while brooding over the wasted years of his life would have been just that, totally wasted without a positive mental attitude. Kudos to organizations like the California Innocence Project that go to bat for wrongly convicted individuals when they have no other recourse.

Take That To The Banks!

[Fields201 · 8/10 · 13 August 2019]

My mom, nephew and his girlfriend went with me to see this and we thought it was a good drama.

The story is about Brian Banks who wants to join the NFL but his dreams were shattered when a girl gets him arrested for rape which never happened so because his life is essentially over, he tries to clear his name.

The performances are really good. The main actor reminds me of Idris Elba, always a delight to see Greg Kinnear, and I didn't know Morgan Freeman is in this movie. It's a good movie to watch and there were some tear jerker scenes. Sadly it's not a comic book movie so it will quickly be on DVD soon.

Great biopic, but it had its flaws.

[Top_Dawg_Critic · 7/10 · 22 December 2019]

The writing was a little bland with its flat, formulaic-style story-telling, and the pacing too slow, that the normally decent 99 min runtime felt much longer. Directing was ok, but I expected more from Tom Shadyac. I guess a long hiatus does flaw some of the skills. The soundtrack wasn't anything special, and the score felt out of place and cheap in some scenes.

Kinnear, Liburd and Roquemore's performances were the only stand-outs imo, the rest of the cast was adequate, but I wasn't too impressed with Hodge's performance, unless of course his bland demeanor was portraying the real Brian Banks. During the ending credits, I will say how uncanny the resemblance was between most of the actors and the people they were portraying.

Nevertheless, it was a great biopic on a serious issue with some tear-jerking moments in the end. It certainly isn't a 9 or 10/10, so ignore those fake reviews the producers felt they needed. It is a solid 7-8/10 film, but gets only my 7 for annoying me with the obviously phony reviews. Would I see it again? Nope. Would I recommend it? Of course.

Wow! Eyes Wide Open

[quietaura · 10/10 · 9 August 2019]

Just saw the latest superhero movie tonight. Although it was not advertised as one. I am talking the new movie Brian Banks. Don't get me wrong-I enjoy superhero movies and even attended Comic Con when I used to be able to afford it. Tonight, was a great reminder that we are the true superhero's with comics mimicking how sensational we can be as humans when we rise above injustice. Brian Banks is played outstandingly by actor Aldis Hodge who is amazingly convincing as Banks. Actress Sherri Shepard plays the role as Banks mother, who is everything one could want as a loving and protective mother. Greg Kinnear as the attorney Justin Brooks provides the right touch of truth about our judicial system, while exuding gut-wrenching care to this heartfelt classic hopeful. This movie is as compelling as The Blind Side-another based on true events story. Except you get blind-sided in a different way. As uncomfortable as this movie makes you feel, due to its disgusting unfairness faced by Brian Banks. You can't help but feel sorrow for what must be missing inside someone propelled to tell such sickening lies on the innocent-played perfectly by actress Xosha Roquemore as the accuser Kennisha Rice. This movie made me mad, cry and grateful for the freedom and life that I have. Test yourself, see how feel when you come out. All I can say is Wow, my eyes are now wide open.

Maybe a better tear jerker if I did not know the outcome of this.

[subxerogravity · 7/10 · 8 October 2019]

It's cool. I still had a few tears cause it's not just about a innocent man finding justice it's about a young black man who had the world turn against him and he kept his head up. That's important. It's also about a lawyer who seeks justice for those who cannot get it themselves, using the system to fight the system. Two really good reasons to shed a tear over this film. It's definitely inspiring but I did not fully feel the emotion I was expecting to get from it.

Refreshing take on a broken System

[zackarayz · 10/10 · 8 August 2019]

Wonderful to see a true story that matches the person it covers. I have heard Brian Banks speak before and Aldis Hodge captures his spirit and intellect in a beautiful way. He was a victim that does not ask to be seen as a victim. He stands up and fights for himself and others in the same position. Welcome back Tom Shadyac!

Good but not Great.

[barrywomb · 7/10 · 18 December 2019]

This movie was well done. Actors were great and the story was told. Great casting.

But

I read the book prior to watching the movie. I LOVED the book and was excited for the movie. The book told the story of how Banks was railroaded by a fake rape charge and about a justice system that didn't seem to give a crap. In the book, the story was told in a very linear fashion. It told of the events in the sequence they occurred. As you move along through the book, you feel the absolute horrible-ness of what happened to Banks. You're there every step of the way. This pulls you into what he had to deal with. Personally, it was one of the best books I've read in a long time.

The movie didn't work like this.

The movie opens up with Banks already on parole and then it jumps around to tell the story while looking back and then moving ahead to his final trial. Again, the story was told ok here... but it leaves so much out and I think, because you don't see things happen from point A to point Z that you just didn't get the emotional WHAM! that you got from the book.

If you enjoyed the movie, read the book.

Inspiring!!

[ilovefoodcoma · 9/10 · 11 August 2019]

What a great movie showing his determination of not giving up!!! Very inspiring movie. All the actors portrait the characters perfectly.

Good film

[big007 · 7/10 · 5 May 2020]

Characters were on point, could have been a little better

A must see!

[ladybutterfly30 · 10/10 · 10 August 2019]

Tom Shadyac directed an excellent film with a message that needs to be heard. This film is extremely powerful and moving. It's a true story that shines the spotlight on courage, hope, and perseverance that everyone should hear.

By the books direction but a great Aldis Hodge

[PaxtonMalloy · 7/10 · 2 February 2020]

It is one of these stories that will always work. The innocent man fighting for his rights his redemption and or his life. Sadly this story is told by the books checking every box these kind of movies go through like the mad man in solitary confinement, loving mother a "tickking clock" and so on. The story itself is strong itself and didn't deserve to be dragged down by a cheap choice of music and corny dialog.

That being said this movie still delivers because of two reasons. It is a story that will trigger every ounce of empathy in you about this innocent man and anger about the system.

Second reason is Aldis Hodge who is putting on a great performance. Yes Aldis always feels a little wooden in his performances but I think he really excels that here. He does a lot with very little and I root for him and feel for him every step of the way.

Inspiring story not done justice by dreadful movie

[paul-allaer · 2/10 · 17 August 2019]

"Brian Banks" (2018 release; 97 min.) is"based on a true story" we are reminded at the beginning, and that is of course Brian Baker's incredible story. As the movie opens, we get to know Brian as an insanely talented line backer at Long Beach Poly Tech who is falsely accused of rape by a 16 yr. old class mate. Back in the present, Brian is called in by a parole officer, and a new state law forces him to wear an ankle GPS tracker, which ruins his dreams of perhaps making it to the NFL. Banks decides to call on the California Innocence Project to clear his name once and for all... At this point we are 10 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the latest film from veteran director Tom Shadyac ("Ace Ventura: Pet Detective", "Bruce Almighty"). Here he brings the incredible story of Brian Banks. By all means, the movie should be a riveting and critical look at the justice system and how a rogue accusation of rape forever alerts a young man's life and dreams. Instead, what we get is a movie that is riddled with cliches and wooden performances. The writing is so poor that it makes you want to laugh. When Brian wants to take a date out to an art museum but doesn't have the money, his mom gives him $100 and says "The car payment can wait, your happiness can't. No, really, I'm not making this up! I feel sorry for Aldis Hodge (playing the title role), who does the best he can with what little he is given. Hodge looks utterly lost on the screen. Greg Kinnear doesn't fate much better as the guy heading up the CA Innocence Project. Morgan Freeman plays a small (and uncredited) role as the "wise man" in juve. I wish I could be more positive about this film, but sadly it is one of the worst I've seen this year (and I see a lot of films). A darn shame that this turns out to be so lame, when the source material by all means should've made for a riveting and, if nothing else, an entertaining movie.

"Brian Banks" premiered at the 2018 LA Film Festival, yes almost a year ago. It's now getting a limited theater release. The movie opened this weekend here in Cincinnati and the Saturday matinee screening where I saw this at was attended poorly (7 people, including myself). Given that this movie will not generate much of a positive word of mouth, I cannot see this playing in theaters much longer. Of course, if you are interested in movies dealing with men falsely accused of a crime, I'd suggest you check this out, be it in the theater (if you still can), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

XONR8

[nogodnomasters · 6/10 · 8 November 2019]

Based on the inspiring and hopeful true story of Brian Banks (Aldis Hodge) who was wrongfully convicted of rape, perhaps the only case of a football player wrongfully accused of the crime. The story also focused on Justin Brooks (Greg Kinnear), attorney pro bono who managed to get the conviction overturned. The film seemed to be generically scripted. Banks was played in a rather bland and subdued fashion.

Guide: No swearing, sex, or nudity

Compelling and entertaining

[productions-67945 · 8/10 · 10 August 2019]

The movie was good. Well acted and well directed. The casting was right on. The actress who played the bad girl was excellent as well as the actress who played her mother. The film moved right along telling a wonderful story in an engaging manner.

Brian Banks

[JoBloTheMovieCritic · 6/10 · 11 August 2019]

6/10 - a well-told true story comes at a bad time in that it indirectly encourages unfair skepticism to the stories of almost always truthful sexual assault victims in the era of #MeToo

Powerful Drama

[larrys3 · 8/10 · 15 November 2019]

Powerful and intense drama, based on a true story. Aldis Hodge and Greg Kinnear lead the way here but the supporting cast are excellent as well.

Hodge portrays Brian Banks, a promising football star who was falsely accused of rape and kidnapping when he was 16-years-old. He will spend years trying to clear his name and regain his life, with the help of the California Innocence Project, as well as his supporters.

At times, the movie seems to veer into contrivances, but, overall, I found it to be a heartfelt and moving film, well acted and presented.

A sad case made into a lighthearted and personal movie

[JurijFedorov · 7/10 · 29 June 2022]

Very clever script keeps the story tight and focused and never dull. This is one of the most famous modern falsely accused stories. It has a ton of news segments, documentaries, retellings. It has all the basics to be a proper news story. It's a 16 year old kid going to prison for 6 years while being a big NFL talent. So he got his career taken away. It's also a story where he is 100% innocent. No doubt whatsoever. The girl said he attacked and molested her which just was not possible. It couldn't have happened. Then later he got her on tape admitting that she made it up after she contacted him on Facebook because he looked handsome. He's also Black and young which is another media plus. And plus the girl and her mom sued the school and the school gave them $1.5m that they spent in a few years. Why? Everyone should have known the story was 100% false. Why did the school ever admit to something having happened? It's basically a perfect small news segment. What about movie? A movie is a different beast. The story is just: young talent goes to prison, gets out of prison, is found innocent. You'd think there was not enough here to warrant a movie. Well, that's where good script writing comes into play. They really did some magic on this story. We have a lot of small feel good scenes and small personal interactions. All with good acting. Even scenes like him trying to find a job or meeting a friend are made close and personal. Small talk with emotions on the sleeve. It feels like a movie that wants to be close to the viewer. And all scenes lead somewhere plot wise. He for example has a parole officer constantly on his case. Never giving him an inch. Always calling him if he even breaks a small rule. It really feels like everything is unfair in his life and especially the parole officer role is a godsent story wise as the needed antagonist. The actual antagonist cannot really be around as she's the accuser. Aldis Hodge is very kind and charismatic as the lead, but has no charisma or energy. Don't see him going anywhere as an actor with this low energy. Greg Kinnear is perfect as his lawyer, just aced all his scenes and mesmerizing. And there is a blonde lawyer working for Greg who is amazing too. Plus Morgan Freeman has a small uncredited role. So there is enough here to keep you watching just for the movie quality alone. The scenes also constantly lead to new clues, new people who can help, and new problems.

It does have some minor issues. Nothing great, but enough for me to rate it less than 8 stars. The music is fine. They just overuse cheap pop music. And there are some scenes without dialogue where we just see a bunch of shots of the lead dating and some mediocre song blasting out loud. It's so cringe. This happens time and time again, but luckily only lasts some seconds. The acting is quality, the camera work is close and personal. These editing choices at times ignore all of that and go for cheap tricks in these scenes. There are also some silly scenes where his old lawyer for example tells him that he must take a deal as the jury is White. What kind of lawyer would say this stuff? It's total nonsense. People make individual decisions. There are a lot of these small xenophobic statements that is pure whining in an overall pretty upbeat movie. Quite silly to have this in a movie, but seemingly it's in all Hollywood movies now. We can't have a movie without these weird allusions to some xenophobic ideas about the world. I'm not sure what to make of it. It also implies that some of these Black people who are about to go in front of a judge are so delusional that they say false or wrong things because of White people. They also forced in a scene of an actual molestation story where the guilty guy went free just to show viewers that "the man is not always innocent and the woman not always lying". Viewers notice such manipulation. It's a shame an otherwise quality movie has this music stuff and then the race and gender issue that clearly is low quality emotional bate. I feel like the message overall is made weaker by statements about opposite events. Plus the accuser is unfortunately only very shortly in the movie. The actress is great and all her scenes magical. A shame the director didn't use her some more. And a shame the story couldn't fit her in. She's the key to this story and her acting reveals what happened.

Good movie. I enjoyed it a lot. It does feel a bit small and not hugely important historically. But the story is nice to learn about. It's nice to explore it via a movie too. I don't see why anyone should skip it. On the other hand it's not some big Hollywood blockbuster about some important battle in WW2 showing close combat and WW2 weapons. If you skip it and watch the news segments instead I'm sure you will understand the basics still. A shame critics didn't like it. The viewers rate it well. The critics are overall not impressed. Historically it did have some very minor misses in some plot points not being shown.. Some characters written out. Some storylines removed like the school suing the girl and her mom to get their money back which they of course will never get back.

Powerful

[waqassaleem-85201 · 8/10 · 12 June 2020]

A powerful film which questions the system. Great performances by the whole cast.

Makes us wonder about the system

[dar0417 · 6/10 · 18 December 2019]

Solid film about Brian Banks but this plays more like a Netflix film them wide theatrical release.

Great story needed to be told, filmakers could have done better

[dale-51649 · 8/10 · 26 January 2020]

In a world where a large minority (ie all adult men) believe that if they were falsely accused they wouldn't get a fair shake in court, a film showing the side of the voiceless needed to be made. In a move out of character of the woke masses in Hollywood ,( or woke pretending at least), filmakers give us a rare glimps into what unfortunately happens all too often -a man is falsey accused and every means he uses to defend himself is batted away like so many OJ Simpson pineata heads at an LPGA event. The story is a great one of grit and perserverance, but unfortunately it has a cheap, "made for tv/movie of the week" feel about it. The shooting looks low rent, and the screeplay has an artificial way about it. No offense but, If they had had some more experianced writers maybe , and it wasn't so slow paced, the maudlin feel would have been usruped by tru grit . At least they finally made a film about this side of the isle, even if it had a "", K mart feel to it.

Saddening Story With a Fortunate Outcome

[noahharrigan · 7/10 · 18 May 2022]

This is another good sports movie based on real events. The movie was well done, the acting was good, and the story had lots of emotion and tear-jerking moments. The movie really covers a big social issue that is happening in today's world. It's also nice to see that Banks is still to this day helping out the California Innocence Project to speak on behalf of other innocent people fighting for their own freedom.

"Brian Banks" is a tainted biopic.

[SnobReviews · 1/10 · 11 November 2019]

"Brian Banks" is tainted with melodrama, a predictable script and no touchdowns. . In this drama based on a true story, a football player is wrongly convicted of a crime and sent to prison, but years later fights to clear his name. . Running nearly 100-minutes but feels way longer; "Brian Banks" is a dedicated true story about a man's fight for the truth, but this film fails to deliver any sense of redemption. I would like to understand why they would cast Aldis Hodge as a twenty-something Banks, when he looks 40. That bothered me the entire movie and I still try to wrap my head around it. A disappointing approach that had some potential.

Good story

[am-by · 7/10 · 11 April 2020]

A good story and a solid movie. It was an enjoyable watch .

A hidden gem

[danclark-01127 · 10/10 · 12 August 2019]

Released among some heavy hitters that I also want to see (The Art of Racing in the Rain, and Hobbs & Shaw), this movie far surpassed any expectations I had for it. I don't remember any movies in recent years that made me feel such a wide range of emotions from anger to relief and happiness, with some deep soul searching. It's a definite must see!