The Story Is Simple, but Energetic ‘Slam’ Packs a Punch

Saul Williams, a handsome spoken-word poetry whiz, who was featured in the recent documentary “SlamNation,” now stars in Marc Levin’s fictional “Slam.” A young man with a charismatic presence and a dazzling talent as a poet in recitation, he also proves to be such an accomplished actor you could envision him in a wide range of roles, rhymed or not.

“Slam” has an undeniable power and energy, but you may find it on the whole a surprisingly modest endeavor to have scored so highly at both the Sundance Film Festival, where it took the Grand Jury Prize, and at Cannes, where it won the Camera d’Or and the audience award.

The film’s title refers to “slamming,” a dynamic combining of the art of performance and poetry that has spawned many competitions. Williams and Levin collaborated on the script with three other actors, but “Slam” seems all of a piece. Essentially, it’s an exceedingly simple story in which Ray (Williams) is getting by in a grim, sprawling southeast Washington, D.C., housing project by selling marijuana. It’s his bad luck to be found carrying a quarter pound of grass when the cops arrive to investigate a drive-by shooting he has witnessed.

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Surprisingly, Ray doesn’t know what’s in store for him: 18 months to two years in a D.C. jail or the almost absolute certainty of a 10-year sentence should he plead innocent. Just as the realities of jail are hitting him, he’s overheard slamming by Lauren Bell (Sonja Sohn), a beautiful writing teacher at the jail who, lamentably, is about to be laid off because of cutbacks. A gifted slammer herself, Lauren is passionately dedicated to reaching the prisoners, virtually all of them black, to break the perpetual cycle of crime that determines their lives. She zeroes in on Ray, recognizing in him a major talent.

Lauren realizes all too well the hard lives these convicts have had in an unjust world, but she refuses to condone crime, especially drug-dealing, as an alternative. She doesn’t pretend to have the socioeconomic answers to the injustices of racism but pleads with the men to try to discover freedom within themselves.

When Ray is unexpectedly bailed out, he finds himself at a crossroads, a brief interlude during which Lauren arranges for him to perform. He does, to electrifying effect, thus bringing him to a point at which me must decide what kind of life he will lead.

Levin brings to “Slam” a raw, impressionistic style that expresses its highly charged emotions effectively and goes a long way to offset that there’s not much in the way of traditional-style character development.

There are moments when Williams seems a bit too sophisticated for Ray, but he impresses strongly, as does Sohn. There are brief appearances by champion slammers Beau Sia and Taylor Mali, both featured prominently in “SlamNation,” and D.C. Mayor Marion Barry has a cameo, playing a righteous judge, a sly bit of casting.

* MPAA rating: R, for pervasive language, a sex scene and brief violence. Times guidelines: The language and themes are very strong for children.

‘Slam’

Saul Williams: Ray Joshua

Sonja Sohn: Lauren Bell

Bonz Malone: Hopha

Lawrence Wilson: Big Mike

A Trimark Pictures release of an Offline Entertainment and Slam Pictures presentation. Director Marc Levin. Producers Henri M. Kessler, Levin, Richard Stratton. Executive producers David Peipers, Kessler. Screenplay by Levin, Bonz Malone, Sonja Sohn, Richard Stratton and Saul Williams. Cinematographer Mark Benjamin. Editor Emir Lewis. Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes.

* In general release throughout Southern California.