Robin's Hood (2003)

Robin is a social worker in Oakland on the verge of losing her job for getting too close to her clients; she's African-American and grew up in the neighborhood. She falls for Brooklyn, a ... See full summary »

Director:

Sara Millman

Writers:

Sara Millman, Khahtee V. Turner

Stars:

Clody Cates, Khahtee V. Turner, Justin Harrison

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Clody Cates	...	Brooklyn
Khahtee V. Turner	...	Robin
Justin Harrison	...	Bank guard
Kimberly Ridgeway	...	Dania (as Kimberly T. Ridgeway)
Aaron Grijalva	...	Monroe
Katherine Sommers	...	Jean
Lee Vogt	...	Geno - Brook's dad
Joshua Burks	...	Carver
Richard Kelesey	...	Printer
Dante Robinson	...	Officer Hoyer
Rebecca Michaels	...	News reporter
Daphne O'Neal	...	Child center director
Mary Ann T. Broussard	...	Grandmother
Kameron Fincher	...	Grandson
Sina Eiden	...	Rachel

Storyline

Robin is a social worker in Oakland on the verge of losing her job for getting too close to her clients; she's African-American and grew up in the neighborhood. She falls for Brooklyn, a White Frenchwoman, who's a thief with dreams of running a motorcycle repair shop. Robin is not only willing to be Brooklyn's lover, she's willing to join in the robberies because she sees community projects that need money: she becomes an anonymous Robin Hood. When her personal life takes a sharp turn and she wants to do one last job, Brooklyn's jealousy flares. Is there any way to resolve these conflicts of love, family, finance, and violence?

---

Plot Keywords:

character name in title | thief | neighborhood | motorcycle | f rated | 

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 July 2003 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Oakland, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

FilmWorks7

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Edgy, lesbian crime-drama.

Beautiful Khahtee V. Turner, stars in this film as a social worker, named Robin. The story takes place in Oakland's tough inner-city, which is overwhelmed with poverty and misery, for most of its residents. Robin has a heart-of-gold, and is committed to doing whatever it takes, to improve her client's lives. But Robin's supervisor, is opposed to Robin's compassionate way of dealing with her client's, so she suspends Robin.

Meanwhile, Robin finds herself drawn to a cute butch lesbian, who she meets in a Cafe one day. The lesbian's name is Brooklyn, and she finds Robin attractive. Robin winds-up getting romantically involved with Brooklyn, even after Brooklyn tells Robin that she robs banks for a living. Brooklyn soon asks Robin to become her partner in crime. Jobless, and bitter about how the system oppresses the poor, Robin agrees.

Robin and Brooklyn, along with Brooklyn's henchman Monroe, pull one successful bank robbery after another. Newly affluent from her criminal activity, Robin feels obligated to give back to her community. So, she donates large sums of her money anonymously, to local charities. This drives a wedge between Robin and Brooklyn, and they briefly separate. They quickly reconcile though, after realizing how much they love one another.

Meanwhile, Brooklyn visits her father, who's in jail. Her dad wants Brooklyn to stay away from a life of crime, and work towards her dream of owning her own motorcycle shop. His advice gives Brooklyn second thoughts, about continuing her bank robbing career. But then Robin discovers that she's pregnant, and she's nearly broke, after giving away her money. So she and Brooklyn agree to pull one final big robbery, to finance their dreams. During the robbery, things go horribly awry, which results in nearly tragic consequences.

This film is briskly contemporary, in its portrayal of life in the gritty Oakland ghetto. It's good to see lesbians as the main characters in this movie, who are complex and interesting, rather than one-dimensional stereotypes. Khahtee V. Turner, gives a superb performance as the kind-hearted, idealistic, righteously angry Robin. Clody Cates infuses the character of Brooklyn, with a tough, yet vulnerable persona.

The film serves up lots of suspense, adventure, tender romance, and heart-ache. You really feel for these characters, as they cope against all odds. Through it all, the film highlights the virtues of true love, loyalty, and steely determination. It's definitely worth a look, especially for those that like an avant guard film, with unique characters.