I like the idea. A lot. Ever since the shoddily made Hurricane Heist a few years ago, I eyerolled the film, but really like this idea of adding a heist to something else going on. At some point some really good director is going to do the “heist in a…” movie right, but for now, I’m ok settling for 1992, and the return of Tyrese Gibson, serious actor.
Gibson plays Mercer, a former imprisoned gang member who’s finally going straight to raise his son Antoine (Christopher Ammanuel) the right way. Mercer gets a job at a catalytic converter manufacturing plant just outside Los Angeles thanks to a favor from his friend Joseph (Michael Beasley). For any historians out there, 1992 LA summer is NOT a good time to be in the city: the Rodney King verdict happens, causing the LA riots. To keep Toine safe, Mercer takes him to the plant, where, as fate would have it, Lowell (Ray Liotta) and his two sons Riggin (Scott Eastwood) and Dennis (Dylan Arnold) decide that the riots are perfect cover to steal the very expensive platinum stored at Mercer’s plant.
1992 gets points for taking a swing. This movie’s really going for something ambitious, paralleling this heist with the very real, messy 1992 summer in Los Angeles. The pieces just never fit quite right. Too many plot tendrils are out there to have any of them have real lasting impacts, despite the cast’s best efforts. The movie tries to hammer home that on a night like this you have diverging goals under a common situation: one is looking for connection from anger, one is looking to profit off of the chaos. As happy as I was to see Ray Liotta get one last chance on the big screen, I wonder if an all-black cast would drive the point home better: two African-American dads on either side of the law are forced to confront each other in this unique night. Instead, we get Liotta and Tyrese arcs that never quite thematically cross, even when they literally cross in the plot.
As for the heist, it’s…standard stuff. There’s a few moments of very silly unintentional comedy that logically make sense but moviewise will make you roll your eyes and giggle a bit. But most of 1992 is a copy/pasted script from other heist films: standoff between characters, police interrogation, a flaw in the heist plan, a wildcard that wrecks everything, characters switching sides. Were it not for the unique setting, 1992 is probably best watched streaming at home, where you can jump in and out when louder noises indicate the movie is getting exciting. We get occasional moments of tension, but nothing really new, dulling the impact of the powerful moments 1992 is going for.
Oh well. There’s enough there to recommend maybe not paying $20 for 1992 but as part of your monthly streamer releases, to give this one a try. If for nothing else, it’s good to see Tyrese Gibson really given a non Fast and Furious script to try his acting chops. And, most importantly, it’s probably the last big movie release Ray Liotta will be in the billing for. He’s been better, but he’s still probably the best part of 1992, and that makes this a solid enough swansong for the underappreciated thespian. Rest in peace, good fella.