We Don't Have To Go Home, We Can Leave The Sleight On

Depending on your age, you may have heard the Pilot tune Magic for the first time as a pop tune on the radio in the 1970's or, if you're in my generation, maybe you got introduced to it by way of 21st century pop culture entities like Wizards Of Waverly Place or Doogal (the latter movie is where I first heard the song). Regardless of where you first heard it, the song has become a prominent fixture of retro radio stations, background music in stores and iPod playlists everywhere. Why? Hey, people love magic, especially the idea of the fantastical existing in our super mundane and depressing world. It's only natural a song imploring you not give up on your belief of magic would resonate with the populace.

If anyone recognizes the power of magic, it's Bo (Jacob Latimore), a young street magician whose the stat of the movie Sleight. He's using magic tricks, er, illusions, to help make money and help get a better life for his younger sister. Part of the reasons Bo's able to wrangle so much cash with his illusions is that he's got a device in his arm that sends out electromagnetic pulses that make objects he's not even touching move. Cool, right? It's a little drastic under normal circumstances, but Bo isn't working under conventional conditions. Ever since his mom died a year ago, it's been up to Bo to keep him and his sister and with the money he pulls off from his magic work as well as a nighttime side gig of selling drugs on behalf of the charming Angelo (Dule Hill), he's at least got a steady source of income, even if he wishes he could take his sister to a place with better schools.

But his peaceful work in the crime world (which solely consists of him selling some drugs to club-going college kids and what not) changes when Angelo not only gets involved Bo in grisly violent work. It isn't long before Bo finds himself outmatched, with his dangerous circumstances becoming more and more dire as the days wear on. What's interesting about how Sleight handles Bo's troubles with the world of crime is that it empathizes with him instead of shunning him for making occasionally unsavory decisions. It doesn't let him off the hook for making dumb moves or anything like that but it totally understands the very real and daunting circumstances that can make a human being turn to this life to help get by.

Sleight is more interested in exploring Bo as a human being and how he'll react to the challenges he's facing rather than using him solely as a cautionary tale. To that end, J.D. Dillard and Alex Theurer's screenplay does a great job of depicting Bo in how he makes it through an average day, as well as believably depicting why he'd be able to make some decent sums of cash as a street magician as well how new challenges stemming from his own mistakes and Angelo's increasing use of violence alter his precarious existence. Of course, there's also the electromagnet in his arm, one whose infected appearance serves as a physical reminder of the lengths he'll go to in order to provide a life for his little orphaned sister.

That's kind of the overriding theme of Sleight, it's the tale of a kid whose not always making the right choices but you always understand why he would make that choice and also fully realize he's always trying to think of those around him, not only his own sister but also his own girlfriend, Holly (Seychelle Gabriel). That same script by Dillard and Theurer has it share of storytelling stumbles to be sure, including how Bo gets a large sum money (all but around $9,000 of what he needs) in a breezy montage, which feels too easy in a movie all about realistic depictions of struggling and more time spent on fleshing out the relationship between him and Holly could have certainly helped make his girlfriend feel more dimensional. But those bumps in the road don't diminish from the otherwise tightly written script that gets a lot of mileage out of deploying empathy in the way it handles the plight of Bo, lending real humanity to his struggles and problem.

That humanity gets reinforced by Jacob Latimore's terrific lead performance, Latimore is able to sell the various sides of Bo nicely, the charming guy who does street magic, the youngster out of his element in the harsh crime world, the big brother to his little sister, whatever the script calls for in regards to Bo as a character, Latimore is there to lend it some heft and authenticity. It's a fantastic turn from the young actor that makes me incredibly intrigued to see what he does next, this guy could really go places as a leading man. Dule Hill finds similar success in his performance as Angelo, lending the character a likable casual air to him that makes it easy to see why Bo would gravitate towards the guy as both a source of employment and even as a quasi-father figure of sorts.

But when Angelo begins to turn and reveal his true colors as a more maniacal gangster figure? Dule Hill is able to handle that side of him with equal levels of success too though now he imbues Angelo with an unpredictable air that puts both Bo and the viewer on edge. Director J.D. Dillard transports that sense of unpredictability into the staging of any intense scene with Bo in crime-related peril that makes these sequences incredibly absorbing. I found myself glued to the screen as I found myself unsure of what could possibly come next for Bo and the way Sleight is able to translate the uncertain nature of Bo's whole life into the aesthetic of this gripping thriller like that is just one of the many reasons Sleight ends up being such a memorable movie.