MOVIE REVIEW : AN INNOCENT ABROAD IN ‘BLACK JOY’

“Black Joy” (at the Nuart) is the kind of film Charles Dickens might have written if he’d been a newcomer to 20th-Century London, just off the boat from the West Indies. It’s a funky fable about an untutored country boy from Guyana who gets a rude introduction to the rugged ways of the big city. Set in Brixton, an impoverished, largely black section of London, the film has a ribald energy and a great performance by veteran British actor Norman Beaton that almost makes up for its erratic pacing and wayward story line.

The film focuses on Ben (Trevor Thomas), a naive young lad who’s made the hard journey more in search of family than fortune. Finding his homestead buried under the rubble of urban renewal, he tries to make a go of it in Brixton, which director Anthony Simmons portrays as a teeming slum, crowded with gambling dens, brothels and flophouses. It’s not an easy transition--Ben is robbed by a sly street urchin and befriended by Dave (Norman Beaton), a wily hustler who turns out to be the artful dodger’s unofficial stepfather.

Outfitted in a garish fur coat and a jaunty cap, this raffish con man both educates and exploits Ben, getting him a job while casually bilking him of his hard-earned cash. As Dave cheerily puts it: “You earn the money and I teach you how to spend it.”

Dave also tutors Ben, a shy, non-drinking lad, in the ways of this harsh new world. He offers gambling tips, introduces him to ganja and takes him on a comical tour of London’s seamy nightspots, where a willing lass schools Ben (apparently for the first time) in the pleasures of the flesh. But not everyone is so easily seduced by Dave’s flashy patter--when he tries to intimidate his long-suffering mistress, she keeps him in line by waving a frying pan full of bubbling grease in his face.

This uneasy partnership between the two men is the strongest part of the nearly decade-old film, which also features a lively reggae score. As Ben, Thomas has a sweet, engaging presence, with his ungainly, open-toed walk emphasizing his awkward transition to this strange new land. He’s an innocent abroad (though there’s nothing innocent about the film’s racy language, even when often obscured by a thick fog of Jamaican patois). You sometimes wish “Black Joy” (Times rated: Mature for rough language and sex scenes) had a more deft, original narrative. But its waggish spirit (and Beaton’s buoyant portrayal of Dave) give the film a lift that carries it over its few rough edges.

‘BLACK JOY’ An Oakwood Entertainment release. Producers Elliot Kastner, Martin Campbell. Director Anthony Simmons. Writers Simmons, Jamal Ali. Camera Philip Meheux. Editor Tom Noble. Music Lou Reizner. With Norman Beaton, Trevor Thomas, Daen Hope, Floella Benjamin, Oscar James, Paul Medford and Shango Baku.

Running time: 1 hour, 37 minutes.

Times rated: Mature.