Daily Plastic: Trouble the Water

Movie	Our Take	Other Takes
Trouble the Water Trailer . IMDB	By deigning to follow the Scotts for months and years as they seek first safety then stability, the movie draws a larger narrative about people whom the system does not serve, does not see, and frankly does not want. Robert Davis Daily Plastic	The same survival instinct that led the Roberts to deal drugs helped them to endure the storm and escape New Orleans.... Anne Thompson Variety ... [and] also led her to save some 25 of her neighbors, and then led her and Scott to her uncle's trailer in northern Louisiana and then to a middle-class cousin's house in Memphis, Tenn. When Roberts finds there the only surviving tape of her rap song "Amazing" — which she thought had been lost in the storm — and flows into a dynamite impromptu rendition, let's just say the filmmakers must have pinched themselves to see if they were dreaming. You couldn't script a bring-down-the-curtain, show biz moment any better than that. Andrew O'Hehir Salon.com But wait... Opportunism? [Kimberly] Roberts, a woman filled with moxie who describes her drug-addled past and how she escaped from it, also manages to get her rap songs prominently placed in the film. Robert Koehler Variety Robert Koehler, a critic I greatly respect, has suggested that Roberts may have cooperated with the filmmakers in hopes of jump-starting her hip-hop career. I think that's a stretch, but I'm also not sure why the hell she shouldn't. Andrew O'Hehir (again) Salon.com But even more vital is Water's second half, a portrait of Kimberly, friends, family, and neighbors literally building from the ruins on the road from New Orleans and, once settled back in the city, fighting against the lures of street life by standing up for themselves and their disenfranchised community. Michael Joshua Rowin Reverse Shot This is just one story out of thousands of stories. The Roberts are very conscious that they represent other people. Carl Deal co-director, Trouble the Water

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