Justin Chon writes, directs and stars in drama set amid the L.A. riots.
On the surface, Justin Chon’s “Gook” feels very much like a West Coast cousin to Kevin Smith’s 1994 indie classic “Clerks.” They’re both shot in black-and-white, they both focus on the faces behind the counter of small, mom-and-pop retail establishments, and they’re both impressively crafted by writer-actor-directors.
A pair of characters clearly intended as a nod to Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob even crop up briefly in Chon’s film.
Dig just a little deeper, though, and one key contrast becomes evident. If “Gook” is a made-in-L.A. riff on “Clerks,” then it’s “Clerks” with a conscience.
Where Smith’s New Jersey-set film paints a sharply drawn portrait of suburban, middle-class ennui, Chon’s “Gook” — as suggested by that discomforting title — is a powerful portrait of urban angst and hopelessness.
Set amid the suffocating racial tension leading up to the 1992 Los Angeles riots, it stars Chon (“Twilight,” “21 & Over”) as Eli, the second-generation owner of a ramshackle women’s shoe store, which he runs with his portly, far less intense brother, Daniel (played by David So). Both of them would rather be doing something else, but both are propelled by a sense of obligation to their late father to keep the family store running.
Eli and Daniel get help, whether they like it or not, from an adolescent African-American girl named Kamilla, who skips school regularly to “volunteer” in the store. Even if they really wanted to shoo her away, which they half-heartedly pretend they want to do, they probably wouldn’t have any luck. Kamilla is small, but she’s not the kind to do anything but what she wants to do.
She’s played beautifully by 12-year-old firecracker Simone Baker. In fact, while the whole cast deserves accolades, it’s Baker’s Kamilla that stands out as the keystone role of the film, serving as a bridge between Los Angeles’ Korean community and its black community. There’s famously no love lost between those two communities, and that’s precisely where the heart of “Gook” lies.
If the film occasionally stumbles, it’s with its script, which hints at but never quite fully explains what draws Kamilla to the store, and the brothers’ reasons for so tenderly taking her in. In addition, one could argue that the conclusion is a few degrees too on-the-nose.
Still, in the overall picture, those failings are minor. There’s no denying that Chon’s film is both engaging and impactful.
Part of that is owed to the historic place in time in which the film is set. Its characters encounter that simmering, ready-to-erupt racial strife first-hand whenever they’re out on the streets of the powder keg city. The film’s audience also witnesses it through TV and radio snippets that crop up in the background of the film. Eventually, of course, it all makes its way to the doorstep of their little shop.
The riots, which played out 25 years ago this past summer and raged for nearly a week, have recently become rich fodder for filmmakers. They played a part in Ezra Edelman’s seven-hour documentary “O. J.: Made in America,” which won the Oscar earlier this year in the feature-length documentary category. More recently, John Ridley’s searing documentary “Let it Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992” took that baton this summer and ran with it.
But even the riots have been held up and examined before, “Gook” gives us something few others do: a fresh, and very welcome, perspective.
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GOOK 3 stars, out of 5
Snapshot: Justin Chon writes, directs and stars in a drama, set against the backdrop of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, about two Korean-American brothers and the 11-year-old African-American girl whom they befriend on the first day of the riots.
What works: Twelve-year-old Simone Baker is great in the role of Kamilla, and the film offers a fresh perspective of historic events.
What doesn’t: The script doesn’t fully explain the relationship between the main characters, and the conclusions is a touch too on-the-nose.
Cast: Chon, Simone Baker, David So, Sang Chon, Curtiss Cook. Director: Chon. MPAA rating: Unrated, warrants R for strong language and violence. Running time: 1 hour 34 minutes. Where: Opens Friday at the Chalmette Movies.
