Parents' Guide to

Flint

Movie NR 2017 120 minutes
Flint Poster Image

Common Sense Media Review

Jenny Nixon By Jenny Nixon , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 14+

Well-meaning recounting of a city's toxic water problem.

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There are some deeply important issues hinted at in this film that could (and should) have been covered in greater depth. Especially concerning is the treatment of economically disadvantaged communities by the old, mainly white men in charge. Still, Flint isn't bad for what it is: a perfectly respectable, if not a bit underwhelming, dramatization of this very real and very unresolved tragedy still affecting an estimated 100,000 residents. The direction is capable, and there's a genuine chemistry between the lead actresses (including Betsy Brandt of Breaking Bad, singer/actress Jill Scott, and Marin Ireland of Sneaky Pete) that draws you into their fight. Less successful characters (who may or may not be amalgams of real-life people) are retired nurse Iza Banks (Queen Latifah, who also produced) and her daughter Adina (Sleepy Hollow's Lyndie Greenwood), who pad things out with a tedious romantic subplot that feels entirely out of place.

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