1992

If you were following the news during the LA riots in the early 1990’s you saw an epic example of what happens when many negative societal factors converge on one location. The LA riots were the true picture of boiling racial inequality and violent antagonism erupting on the streets for the whole world to see. I was in college at the time, and it made a huge impression on me as far as what a societal explosion looked like in real time.

This is the backdrop of the film “1992” which takes place on April 29, 1992, the day of the Rodney King verdict. Directed by Ariel Vromen, “1992” plays out first as a character study of two families (centered around father/son relationships) and all the problems that go along with making bad choices in the past, present, and possible future.

The boiling over of emotions in the King verdict is mirrored in the tension filled relationships that are part of the focus in this movie. Tyrese Gibson, as a single father named Mercer, is working to protect his teenage son Antoine (Christopher Ammanuel) from the surrounding violence only to upset an ensuing robbery led by Lowell (the late Ray Liotta) and his crew which also includes his son Riggin (Scott Eastwood).

We see Mercer has just recently been released from prison six months ago, and now he’s working on not going back by staying away from the gang he once ran with and by plying his trade as a maintenance worker in a plant. Mercer, of course, doesn’t want Antoine to follow in his footsteps. So he has the teen return directly home from school, despite Antoine’s charge that he’s being locked in a proverbial cage by his dad. Mercer knows what dangers await on the streets and trouble has a way of finding struggling teens, especially those who suffer from a bad/absent male role model. Couple that with Antoine’s righteous anger he harbors due to the King verdict, as well as being harassed by LA police, and you have a family powder keg ready to blow.

The film’s other strained father-son relationship is Riggin and father Lowell. It’s Riggin who thinks up a get-rich-quick scheme, proposing that Lowell’s gang rob Mercer’s plant where there happens to be $10 million worth of platinum—with the uprising associated with the Rodney King verdict providing the perfect cover for their plan.

Riggin is tired of working for his dad and his band of petty criminals. He also wants to take his younger, sensitive brother Dennis away from Lowell. It would have been nice to have a little more insight into the history of this family dynamic and why Riggin can’t stand his father. Instead we get a lot of reaction with no understanding. Antoine and Mercer stumble onto their criminality (eventually) and the film then becomes a fight for survival as Mercer and Antoine attempt to avoid Lowell’s wrath.

The plot is amazingly straight-forward with little rest for reflection or character development and at a quick 96 minute runtime it goes by like a speeding cop car.

This was Liotta’s last full film before passing away in May 2022 of cardiovascular disease. He is a presence here (as in most of his acting career) playing a steely-eyed criminal, but I was hoping for a little more gravitas from the script to give him some room to really explode. He and Scott Eastwood work well together but not enough. Their relationship is always thin and needed some more deepening of character.

Gibson’s performance is packed with suppressed tension mixed with a smothering protective love for his son. He only wants the best for the boy but has no idea how to deliver it, since he probably never had a positive male role model either.

I like the idea of the backdrop being the LA riots, but we don’t get too much of that flavor since most of the action is within an enclosed warehouse. When I saw Kurt Russell’s dirty cop film “Dark Blue” (2003) it too was set in the same timeframe but really allowed the chaos on the streets to bring a dangerous vibe to the production. Smoke-filled streets, cars on fire, gangs of looters roaming around really set up a troubling mood. “1992” could have used more flavor of 1992.

This is a violent, gritty action movie at heart so expect some very strong violent content using guns and beatings. At one time a character’s leg gets stuck under a forklift leading to a graphic scene. There are many scenes of criminality from gansters and police alike. Many gunshot wounds and deaths occur throughout the film. There is no nudity or sensuality that I saw.

I call upon the “Goodfellas Rule” (ironically with Ray Liotta starring) where if it gets past 50 F-bombs you can stop counting the curse words. There are many uses of the N-word that black characters use towards each other, and many uses of “Bulls**t,” “S**t,” “A**hole,” as well as using the Lord’s name in vain (G*d d*mn). There is surprisingly very little in the way of drugs and alcohol, apart from cigarette usage.

There is a positive message about redemption amidst hard circumstances and escaping a series of bad past decisions. Merc refuses to carry a gun or use violence except to defend others, particularly his teen son. He’s focused on being there and protecting Antoine so that his son may have a chance to be the man Merc never was. It’s that sacrificial fatherly love that drives the narrative, and we see Antoine being brave even in unthinkable circumstances due to the strength he sees in his dad.

This protective paternal instinct is an attribute from God Himself. 2 Thessalonians 3:3 says

“But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.”

The promise is that God Himself will protect you against Satan who desires victory over you and your life. Yes, God will allow challenges to happen to us to stretch our faith and make us preserver “so that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:4). These challenges are there to make us into the people we are meant to be, but God will not give us anything too great to bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). He will defend us, gird us up, and protect us when Satan wants to destroy us. Our Father cares, and we can call upon Him to always rescue us from the trials.

Looking back on the devastating riots of LA we are reminded that this world is all about power and the reaction that comes when power is threatened. It is a never ending cycle of reaction fomenting reaction, which in turn drives more reaction.

Thank God Jesus has shown us a better way of living and reminds us that our citizenship is indeed in Heaven (Philippians 3:20) and then in the Eternal Kingdom with our Savior and Lord (Revelation 21). We who hope in Christ have no need for the rage that comes with injustice and intolerance. Instead we go to bat for those who are being subjugated, seek redemption through God’s power, and change lives as Christ changes us.

• Violence: Very Heavy
• Vulgar/Crude language: Very Heavy
• Profane language: Moderate
• Drugs/Alcohol: Mild
• Nudity: Moderate, none from the characters, but posters of erotic women seen multiple times
• Sex: None
• Occult: None
• Wokeism: None

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.