Mickey Hardaway is an independent feature film debut – written and directed by Marcellus Cox. Update: This review is currently for a non-final version of the film.
This is about a young sketch artist called Mickey Hardaway (Rashad Hunter); who has his life spiral out of control after years of physical and verbal abuse, that finally takes a toll on him. This leads Mickey to a in-house therapy session with well-renowned psychiatrist Dr. Cameron Harden (Stephen Cofield Jr.).
Marcellus has written a compelling character driven story, that focuses on mental health, relationships, as well as loosely following the struggles of being an artist. A very emotional film to sit through.
Rashad Hunter delivers such an impressive and convincing performance in the titular role. It’s really engaging; following Hardaway’s life and they developed his character well.
He is also a character that somewhat hits deeply with me on a personal level, minus the physical abuse.
Being an artist myself, while also constantly struggling with mental health does take a toll and I’m glad there’s another film that can represent not only the mental health of an artist, but men suffering from mental illness, that doesn’t seem to be spoken about enough in society.
There has often been people around me who have discouraged and viewed becoming an artist as “not having a future”, just like this film mentions in multiple powerful scenes between Hardaway and his father Randall (David Chattam).
Great performance by Stephen Cofield Jr. who delivers on being a calm and confident character, and Grace (Ashley Parchment), who is a refreshingly optimistic addition to the film.
The pacing between each psychiatry session felt quite rushed as they went back-to-back, making it feel like no time had passed.
A few seconds of a scene with a teacher and young Mickey that was already shown, seems to have been edited into the film by mistake soon after @18:52.
Visuals
A majority of the film is in black and white; as the lack of colour in this context, conveys a dreary absence of hope in the character’s life. It’s a sad, yet beautiful movie to watch.
Jamil Gooding who worked as director of photography, editing, and as a colourist did a great job here!
Audio
The over-bearing background/environment sounds edited in, were often distracting away from scenes and sometimes drowning out dialogue when listening to the film via earphones, but not too bad via external speakers apart from the loud bird chirping. (Update: Since writing this review, I’ve learned this is a non-final version, as there will be new sound mixings that may clear up the issues mentioned).
Although, there was an exception where a constant loud ticking clock sound at the psychiatrists, did help emphasize how anxious and frustrated the character was.
Dramatic scores composed by Michael Levine worked great!
Final Thoughts
Overall, It’s a good film for a directorial debut, and deeply moving to watch. Cox’ has stayed true to the summary that’s been advertised, while also bringing some more to the plate.
Also starring: Dennis LA White, Gayla Johnson, Samuel Whitehill, Sean Alexander James and Charlz Williams.
Marcellus’ Mickey Hardaway was in the film festival circuit during April, 2023 and is also set to release from August 25, 2023; distribution is being handled by Indie Rights.
