It tends to clutter up a redemption and forgiveness narrative that would have been much more powerful unfettered.
Cluttered, too, is a narrative that flashes back to different shootings that can get confusing.
“Steps” is blessed with a strong central figure in Morgan, from “Mudbound,” “Bull” and “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.” He also played Turk Barrett in “Daredevil,” “Luke Cage” and five other Netflix Marvel series.
His intensity here as a gruff, no nonsense, but principled guy who’s learned a lot about life and himself through his days in the streets, pays off. His humanity almost carries the rest of the cast, whose strengths throughout definitely vary.
“Steps” is one of the first features from a directorial pair that has spent more time on hip-hop videos. But that work also obviously gave them expertise in shooting the street scenes with confidence. Harris’ previous screenplays, for his part, include the 2013 “House of Bodies” with Peter Fonda and Terrence Howard.
The biggest name associated with “Steps” is NBA star Shaquille O’Neal who serves as executive producer, though Denzel Washington’s wife, Pauletta Washington, drops in a couple of times as a doctor providing key advice.
A hit at the Jersey City International Film Festival, “Steps” certainly shows off that New Jersey city to good advantages, with glittering scenes of the New York City skyline from the rooftops and reverse angles of the Statue of Liberty.
Refusing to shy away from street realities and its language, “Steps” has found a suitable home on the gospel network Doves. But it is also available on other streaming services.
“Steps” is available on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, VuDu and YouTube.