Our Celebrity Buzz focuses on the performer Common enjoying a career renaissance lately outside of the spoken-word and rap circles that turned him into an underground icon more than two decades ago. On the silver screen, he’s the star of the forthcoming crime drama “LUV” that recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
Common plays Uncle Vincent, “an ex-con trying to go straight who takes his young nephew with him on a business trip that inadvertently leads him back down the deadly path he’s been trying to avoid,” notes EW.com’s “Inside Movies” blog. “‘Scary’ doesn’t cover it.”
“It all begins with love, love coming from someone who’s been through a lot of pain and struggle,” Common said. “He doesn’t automatically see putting someone in a situation like that to be as detrimental as it could be.”
Costars include Charles S. Dutton, Danny Glover, Dennis Haysbert, Lonette McKee, Michael Kenneth Williams and 11-year-old newcomer Michael Rainey Jr. “LUV” is the directorial debut of Sheldon Candis, who also wrote the script with Justin Wilson. It was filmed on location in Baltimore.
The “Hollywood Reporter” posted a mixed review coming out of Sundance, but takes special note of Common’s “easy charm, swaggering masculinity and quicksilver mood shifts [that] make Vincent a compelling figure.”
This past weekend, “LUV” was acquired in a seven-figure distribution deal that includes a TV premiere on the BET network. Look for it in movie theatres later this year.
Common is also earning rave reviews as the costar of “Hell on Wheels” on AMC, which was recently renewed for a second season. But last summer, he found himself at the center of a controversy following an appearance at a White House poetry reading. He had been invited by First Lady Michelle Obama.
Common’s presence was derided by right-wing media figures citing violent lyrical content in his works as a cause for concern. Jon Stewart of “The Daily Show” blasted the controversy as trumped-up political maneuvering. Critics “took the time to ignore Common’s entire body of work, save for one poem he wrote in 2007 that they appear to misunderstand,” he said.
As if it wasn’t already clear, Common is a busy guy. In addition to his film and TV projects and dealing with the fallout from being used as a political hot potato, he has also released a new album. “The Dreamer/The Believer” has earned a positive Metacritic rating of 75/100 based on nearly two dozen reviews.
CLICK HERE To see director Sheldon Candis talk about “L.U.V.”
CLICK HERE for AMC’s HELL ON WHEELS