By: Lana K. Wilson-Combs
Nick Robinson from “Everything, Everything” and Netflix’s upcoming, “Maid” adds to his list of impressive roles with his latest movie,
“Silk Road.”
Directed and co-written by Tiller Russell (TV’s “Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer”), “Silk Road” is a slick crime thriller based on David Kushner’s 2014 Rolling Stone article “Dead End on Silk Road: Internet Crime Kingpin Ross Ulbricht’s Big Fall.”
It’s a fascinating story set in 2011 and tells how 21-year-old Ross Ulbricht (Robinson) created Silk Road, an online darknet for people to buy and sell drugs anonymously using Bitcoin.
Ross was the mastermind of the untraceable Website. Once he ironed out a few of the wrinkles and conferred with his girlfriend Julia (Alexandra Shipp, “X-Men: Apocalypse” and “tick, tick…Boom!) and best friend Max, Daniel David Stewart (TV’s “The Fugitive”) about the get rich scheme and how it worked, it was a go.
It didn’t take long for the money to flow. I mean millions and millions of dollars. The setup was nearly flawless, and Ross was so clever with his method of operation that he almost seemed too big to fail. Almost.
When DEA agent Rick Bowden (an excellent Jason Clarke, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” and upcoming “Showtime”) is demoted to the cybercrime’s division, everything changes.
Despite Rick’s lack of computer skills, he brings his old-school methods to his new job and with the help of a local informant named Rayford (a terrific Darrell Britt-Gibson, “Judas & The Black Messiah”), Rick is able to get closer to Ross. He starts by tracking and putting the squeeze on one of the online criminals, Curtis Clark Green (an excellent Paul Walter Hauser, “Da 5 Bloods” and “Richard Jewell”).
Slowly, the pieces begin to come together. Rick hopes he can redeem himself with his new superiors for his work which resulted in DEA agents storming the Glen Park library in San Francisco and arresting a stunned Ross who had conducted much of his illicit business there.
“Silk Road” surprises at every turn. It’s a solidly entertaining drama with a fine cast and well worth your time.
You can catch “Silk Road” Feb. 19 On Demand and all major digital platforms including Apple TV and Amazon and in limited theaters.
Editor's Note: Be sure to catch my N2Entertainment.net movie talk segment on the Kitty O'Neal Show Fridays at 6:20 p.m. on radio station KFBK 93.1 FM and 1530 AM.
Watch This Trailer For
"SILK ROAD"
Lana K. Wilson-Combs is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA), The Black Film Critics Circle (BFCC) and a Nominating Committee Voting Member for the NAACP Image Awards.
