NIGHT CATCHES US

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Tanya Hamilton's self-penned debut feature is a minor period drama about racial tensions in 1976 Philadelphia.

The cut-and-paste script casts Anthony Mackie as Marcus Washington, an ex-Black Panther who comes back home to the Germantown neighborhood where he grew up for his father's funeral. Marcus left the community on bad terms.

Rumor has it that he ratted out a fellow Black Party activist; the man was killed by the Feds.

Someone spray-paints "SNITCH" on the side of the black Cadillac Marcus inherits from his dad, and temporarily uses as a hotel room. Former Panther comrade Patricia Wilson (Kerry Washington) comes to Marcus's aid, allowing him to stay with her, even though the man Marcus may have sold out was her husband and father to her daughter.

Kerry Washington does an admirable job of fleshing out her character but the effort is undermined by the flat narrative. Archival footage of Black Panther rallies barely relates to the characters we see, save for a young idealistic hothead who goes too far while trying to stand up to white cops who harass the local blacks. There's no clear thematic message here.

"Night Catches Us" never measures up to the volatile past in its rearview mirror.

Rated R. 90 mins.