A10| Friday, August 2, 2019 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
I
nstead of calling the high-
school student at the center
of “Luce” a poster boy, let’s
call him a paragon. Poster
boys are two-dimensional,
since they’re on posters.
Luce, the adopted black son of a
white suburban couple, is multifac-
eted and full of life, not least be-
cause he’s played by Kelvin Harri-
son Jr., an actor who combines
seemingly effortless appeal with un-
common skill. A decade ago Luce
was a child in an Eritrean war zone,
traumatized byviolence. Now he’s a
paragon of scholarship, athleticism,
soft-spoken eloquence and personal
grace—of everything, the film sug-
gests wryly, his white community
would like him to be. Except it could
all be an act, a serene façade built up
by a tortured spirit—or a sociopath.
The narrative, framed as a psycho-
logical mystery, labors under more
layers of significance than it can han-
dle without falling into contrivance
and argumentation. Still, the dra-
matic core is strong, an exceptional
young man struggling to find, and
become, whoever he really is.
The director was Julius Onah,
who, with JC Lee, adapted the
script from a play by Mr. Lee that
had a limited run at Lincoln Center
in 2013. The first sign that Luce
may be harboring secrets is a paperhe has written for one of his teach-
ers, Harriet Wilson (Octavia Spen-
cer). The assignment was to pick a
historical figure, then write in his
or her voice. Luce’s choice was
Frantz Fanon, an advocate of revo-
lutionary violence as a cleansing
force. For Miss Wilson that’senough of a red flag for her to
share her concern with Luce’s par-
ents. But is it? Having followed his
assignment, he asks, quite reason-
ably, “Do you really think I believe
in that stuff?” Another sign, among
others strewn freely, is the discov-
ery of illegal fireworks in his locker.emerges out of intimations of sexual
abuse and an ambiguous remark he
chances to make.
The ambiguity is intentional, and
cumulative; it’s also interesting in
the way good mysteries are meant
to be. At the same time, these plot
developments convey a mounting
sense that the movie’s case is rigged.
The teacher comes off as Luce’s par-
anoid persecutor; her motives are
murky, as distinct from ambiguous.
From the outset she seems wary of
Luce’s conspicuous ease and confi-
dence with his schoolmates and
adults alike; that’s because, we are
given to understand, she’s the prod-
uct of an older black generation that
was taught to navigate white Amer-
ica cautiously, mistrustfully. That
doesn’t parse, though. Luce’s refer-
ences to Frantz Fanon notwithstand-
ing, why doesn’t she rejoice in what
he’s achieved since he came here as
a frightened immigrant? If Miss Wil-
son were white, her criticism of
Luce’s assigned paper might be seen
as alarmist, even racist. Yet no one
challenges her judgment directly in
these circumstances.
Movies that play with the myster-
ies of character are a special treat
when all the elements come to-
gether: Alfred Hitchcock’s masterly
“Shadow of a Doubt,” with Joseph
Cotten as the outwardly charming
Uncle Charlie; “Primal Fear,” an un-
dervalued thriller with Edward Nor-
ton as an altar boy (talk about pro-
totypical paragons) who, accused of
murder, may be as innocent as he
claims. “Luce” doesn’t approach that
level of finesse. The screenplay, ex-
panded but also stretched from the
original play—what in the world is
Harriet’s deranged sister doing
there?—says both too much and not
enough. Luce’s parents, Amy (Naomi
Watts) and Peter (Tim Roth), quickly
and improbably become adversaries
on the matter of his innocence—and
what is an oblique, one-sentence
hint about paternal molestation do-
ing there? They argue their posi-
tions repetitively, embark on im-
probable courses of action for
unconvincing reasons. By the same
token, the film cheats in the cause
of suspense by cutting away from a
crucial conversation between Har-
riet and a girl in Luce’s class.
The element that’s memorable,
however, is the hero. At a time of
turmoil for many Americans of
color, Luce has made himself into
the highest of high-achievers, with
the help of high-expecting adoptive
parents, yet he tries to do right by a
black classmate, DeShaun (an actor
and sometime rapper named Astro),
whose rage is an open flame. His in-
stant affability may remind movie
lovers of Sidney Poitier as he first
presents himself in “Guess Who’s
Coming To Dinner,” or, closer to the
subject that this film declines to re-
solve, the sociopathic pleaser played
brilliantly and scarily by Will Smith
in “Six Degrees of Separation,” but
Luce is an original. More than that,
he is a source of unflagging fascina-
tion, whatever the state of his soul.They’re only fireworks, but power-
ful enough to be lethal.
Clearly the filmmakers are playing
with fire. School shootings have be-
come such a frightening part of our
lives that it’s easy to justify the
teacher’s suspicions. And a wider, al-
beit shakier, case against LucePsyching Out an Enigma
Julius Onah’s new movie finds mystery and possibly malice in a high school’s model black student
FILM REVIEW|JOE MORGENSTERN
Octavia Spencer, Kelvin Harrison Jr.
and Naomi Watts, left, and Tim Roth
and Ms. Watts, below, in ‘Luce’NEON (2)
LIFE&ARTS
CHAIN GANG| By Matt Gaffney
TheWSJDailyCrossword|Edited by Mike Shenk
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14 15 16
17 18 19
20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31
32 33 34 35 36 37
38 39 40
41 42 43 44
45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52
53 54 55 56 57
58 59 60
61 62 63 64 65
66 67 68
69 70 71The answer to
this week’s contest
crossword isan
American fast-food
chain.
Across
1 Fans
6 “Caddyshack”
director Harold
11 One of two in an
outfield
14 Write, often
15 City downriver
from Khartoum
16 Chesapeake Bay,
e.g.
17 Person in charge
of keeping
everyone’s
morale up?Previous Puzzle’s Solution19 Brilliant Bruin
20 Up to, informally
21 Da Nang dinner
option
22 Plutocrats
24 Tin container,
perhaps
25 Someone who’s
always trying to
outdo you on
Instagram?
28 They’re
dispatched
from D.C.
30 Stuff sold by the
skein
31 Sheer hatred
32 Tummy group
34 Key of Haydn’s
Symphony No. 1237 Ron who played
Tarzan
38 Place to store
your throwable
weaponry?
41 Even up
43 Sound from a
Stooge
44 Response to a
funny text
45 “Hold on ___!”
47 Narrow opening
49 LAX guesses
53 Demand that the
singer of “Tik
Tok” laugh at
your joke?
57 Letters aptly
hidden in
“Obamacare”58 Label founded by
Clive Davis
59 Xbox 360
competitor
60 Unwelcoming
61 Got together
62 “Has anyone
seen Ms. Cyrus?”
66 Aug. setting in
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68 Weaken from
below
69 Plus
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71 Has the gall
Down
1 Filled with hits
2 Monitor of
Mariners
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mark
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footing
6 Drink since 1905
7 Syllable of
wonder
8 1,017 years ago
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hit with “Fame”
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shot
13 Tabbouleh
ingredient18 Words
introducing time-
tested wisdom
23 Marathoner’s ID
26 Mole’s kin
27 Bob Dylan’s “The
Man ___”
29 Drain
33 Jerry’s partner
35 Everything in
front of us
36 A-Rod’s fiancée
38 Decide that one
should
39 1960s secretary
of state
40 It may be blonde
or pale
41 Acid reflux fighter
42 “Absolutely!”
46 Mickey Mantle
and Mike Trout,
for two: Abbr.
48 “That’s no lie!”
50 Savile Row pro
51 Agree (to)
52 Agree (to)
54 Fighting
55 Large mackerel
56 Intended
63 Work unit
64 1 or 66, e.g.
65 “The Crying
Game” org.s
Email your answer—in the subject line—[email protected]
by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time Sunday, August 4. A solver selected at random
will win a WSJ mug. Last week’s winner: Debbie Cirulnick, Key Largo, FL.
Complete contest rules atWSJ.com/Puzzles. (No purchase necessary.
Void where prohibited. U.S. residents 18 and over only.)CONE SOFTC DOFF
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CONTESTWeather
Shown are today’s noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.City Hi Lo W Hi Lo W City Hi LoW Hi LoWToday Tomorrow Today TomorrowCity Hi Lo W Hi Lo WAnchorage 70 59 pc 71 60 pc
Atlanta 85 70 t 85 71 pc
Austin 99 72 pc 96 72 pc
Baltimore 84 68 t 86 68 t
Boise 97 63 s 98 66 s
Boston 82 69 s 86 70 t
Burlington 85 61 s 86 60 s
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Chicago 83 61 s 85 64 s
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Denver 8863pc 8965pc
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Honolulu 89 79 sh 88 79 sh
Houston 95 74 pc 94 75 pc
Indianapolis 85 66 pc 86 65 s
Kansas City 75 66 r 82 62 t
Las Vegas 107 87 pc 108 87 pc
Little Rock 87 71 pc 84 70 t
Los Angeles 88 66 s 88 65 pc
Miami 85 79 t 88 79 t
Milwaukee 79 62 s 81 65 s
Minneapolis 86 69 pc 87 70 pc
Nashville 89 70 t 89 71 s
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New York City 84 72 s 85 73 t
Oklahoma City 98 71 pc 86 66 pcOmaha 76 66 c 83 65 pc
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San Francisco 74 58 pc 75 57 pc
Santa Fe 88 62 t 83 62 pc
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Wash., D.C. 84 72 t 86 73 tAmsterdam 72 58 sh 72 55 c
Athens 95 78 s 93 79 s
Baghdad 115 84 s 111 83 s
Bangkok 88 80 sh 86 79 sh
Beijing 84 71 t 86 74 t
Berlin 75 59 t 76 59 t
Brussels 73 59 c 74 56 c
Buenos Aires 57 35 s 59 40 s
Dubai 106 92 s 107 93 s
Dublin 68 56 pc 68 58 r
Edinburgh 68 54 pc 68 57 cFrankfurt 80 60 t 77 59 t
Geneva 78 57 t 82 58 pc
Havana 88 74 t 87 73 t
Hong Kong 88 80 t 88 80 t
Istanbul 88 73 s 88 72 s
Jakarta 92 75 s 92 74 s
Jerusalem 84 66 s 84 69 s
Johannesburg 66 45 s 69 48 s
London 77 60 pc 77 60 c
Madrid 97 67 s 98 68 s
Manila 85 79 t 85 78 sh
Melbourne 57 47 pc 58 46 c
Mexico City 76 54 t 77 56 t
Milan 85 65 t 88 66 pc
Moscow 62 48 c 62 46 pc
Mumbai 86 80 sh 85 80 sh
Paris 82 59 pc 81 61 c
Rio de Janeiro 89 68 s 72 63 r
Riyadh 115 84 s 113 82 s
Rome 85 66 s 86 68 s
San Juan 87 77 pc 87 79 sh
Seoul 91 76 t 94 78 pc
Shanghai 94 80 pc 90 81 t
Singapore 89 81 pc 90 82 pc
Sydney 6448pc 6747s
Taipei City 97 79 pc 95 80 c
Tokyo 93 79 s 90 78 s
Toronto 82 60 s 84 61 s
Vancouver 74 59 pc 76 61 s
Warsaw 7255pc 7355pc
Zurich 75 57 t 79 55 cToday TomorrowU.S. Forecasts
International
City Hi LoW Hi LoWs...sunny; pc... partly cloudy; c...cloudy; sh...showers;
t...t’storms; r...rain; sf...snow flurries; sn...snow; i...ice
Today TomorrowWarmColdStationaryShowersRainT-stormsSnowFlurriesIce<
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MontrealWinnipegVancouver CalgaryEdmonton70s80s
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