Evolution of a Criminal

2014

1 hr. 21 min.

Documentary

List

100%

14 Reviews

Tomatometer

68%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

After 10 years, filmmaker Darius Monroe returns to his hometown to examine how his robbery of a bank affected his family, friends and other victims.

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Audience Member

Would have gotten a higher rating if it wasn't for the re-enactment. I hate re-enactments in documentaries.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

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Audience Member

7/11/15 Netflix A compelling story of family, poverty, bad decision and redemption. An interesting self portrait and self examination of a life, hopefully, turned around for good. You want to root for Darius. Since it occurred in the next town over from where we live was an added bonus as we are familiar with all of the places he takes us.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

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Audience Member

A remarkable, human portrait of a young man cast through the eyes of those who raised him, who witnessed his crime, and sought to bring him to justice. Cinematically gorgeous, Darius Clark Monroe's story deserves to been seen for the sake of its art and the life that it portrays so beautifully.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Terrible bit of excuse making. An intelligent, loved black mlale from a close two parent home crafts a documentary placing himself as another " po black boy" derailed by his mother. In this piece, there are two other males committing the SAME crime. No attempts are made to explain their same choice (despite their presumably different circumstances). It was disturbing to watch the film maker convince his mother that he committed a serious crime (1st offense) because she talked to much about HER money problems in a two parent home. Most film students know that the easiest way to get noticed is to do a " black male plight" film or doc. Brazil, Detroit, Baltimore, LA gangs- its an easy sell. This saavy, slightly "slick" black male looked in the mirror and saw, not possible redemption and accountability, but a one man "doc". The serious holes in this story and questions about the location of the money go a long way in speaking to the character of this , so called reformed " good black boy" forced into bad choices.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

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Audience Member

met and love the director (Darius) at Bloor Hot Docs Cinema. The documentary is just meh

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

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Audience Member

Darius Clark Monroe robó un banco a los 16 años y fue condenado a prisión. Este documental examina que llevó a este jóven que tenía un brillante futuro por delante a cometer este crimen y las repercusiones que tuvo sus acciones sobre su familia y amigos. Pero más allá de eso, trata acerca de la capacidad que tenemos como personas de trascender de nuestros errores. Evolution Of A Criminal es una historia dolorosa de como el entorno en el que creces, influye directamente en tus acciones. No es cierto que todos nacemos con las mismas oportunidades. Personas como Darius empiezan con una distancia considerablemente mayor a alcanzar en la carrera de la vida. A pesar de estas circunstancias no se rindió. Tomó su situación y logró voltearla a su beneficio. Esta película, es la historia de Darius, y al ser dirigida por él mismo, es emocional y personal, pero logra tomar una distancia prudente para reflexionar acerca de su vida y brindarnos al público, un relato de coraje supervivencia y sobretodo optimismo. Utiliza elementos interesantes para hilar la cronología de los hechos. Los testimonios de su familia y amigos son honestamente desgarradores, y se nota que esta oportunidad en frente de las cámaras era la manera perfecta de brindar una visión honesta que contribuye a la historia, al igual que la recreación de los hechos, que fácilmente puede arruinar una película, pero en este caso enriqueció la narración. Claramente Darius tiene un don para contar historias, y esta es la redención que finalmente le permitirá ser libre.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

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Darius Clark Monroe

Director

Dante E. Clark

Darius

Rosalyn Coleman

Sigrid

Ellie Foumbi

Bank Teller

Yvette Ganier

Bank Customer

Benton Greene

Bank Customer

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Shadow and Act Staff

Shadow and Act

There’s no easy answer, and Monroe’s documentary is anything but easy. It’s a textured look at environment, economic reality, and dreams blighted by a need to survive.

Sep 13, 2022

Full Review

Moira MacDonald

Seattle Times

Few documentaries are as personal as Darius Clark Monroe's moving "Evolution of a Criminal," in which the filmmaker turns his camera on himself and members of his family to retell a painful story.

Rated: 3/4

Nov 6, 2014

Full Review

Tom Long

Detroit News

The film is testament to how soul-sucking poverty and good intentions can inspire wrong, dream-ending moves.

Rated: B-

Oct 24, 2014

Full Review

Mat Bradley-Tschirgi

Battleship Pretension

This film is almost too good for a directorial debut from Darius Clark Monroe. I'm excited to see what this promising talent does next.

Dec 8, 2020

Full Review

Debbie Lynn Elias

Behind The Lens

Devoid of sugar-coating or the rose-colored lenses so frequently found with a documentary of this nature, Darius Monroe is brutally honest with the audience, his victims and more importantly, himself.

Dec 14, 2019

Full Review

Stephen Saito

Moveable Fest

The film can certainly stand alone as well as a truly unique first person account of a situation that affects millions but is all too rarely spoken about, much less with such insight.

Nov 20, 2018

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Synopsis

After 10 years, filmmaker Darius Monroe returns to his hometown to examine how his robbery of a bank affected his family, friends and other victims.

Director: Darius Clark Monroe
Executive Producer: Jay Kubassek, Spike Lee
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 20, 2015

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