Threat Matrix

"Jamal" (Rob Brown) has something of the "Will Hunting" to him, only without the chip on his shoulder. He's a clever lad from the Bronx but he has little opportunity to develop his education so tends to hang about the basketball court with his pals. They are all aware that from an adjacent building, someone is watching them. They call him the "window" and one night he decides to sneak up the fire escape and visit this enigmatic figure! He almost gets caught, but in flight he leaves behind his rucksack containing readily identifiable information. Rather than get a visit from the cops, though, he finds it thrown out of the very window a few days later - with all his schoolwork corrected! Curious, he attempts a more formal introduction with their observer and that's when he encounters "Forrester" (Sean Connery). It turns out that he once wrote a book, and a very successful book at that, but for reasons that might become clearer he has taken to the life of a recluse in his large apartment. It looks like he sees promise in this young man, but can he help him realise his full potential? Perhaps he even has a book in him, too? What's clear from his schooling is that his teacher "Crawford" (F. Murray Abraham) hasn't really much time for this pupil. It might just be a lethargic disdain for his own life - he was an author who didn't quite make the grade; or maybe his indifference is racially motivated? In any case, "Forrester" decides to act as a conduit to help "Jamal" prove his worth - or not - to himself and also to "Claire" (Anna Paquin) to whom he has taken a bit of a (reciprocated) shine, but who is most definitely from the other side of the tracks. There is a condition to the older men's help though. What goes on in the flat stays in the flat. That soon becomes more difficult for "Jamal" as the two men begin to bond on a much more personal level, and he even manages to coax the virtual hermit to a basketball game with him. With his schoolwork markedly improving, and his confidence likewise against the intellectual bullying of "Crawford", this latter man is now looking for a way to reveal "Jamal" as a fraud, a plagiarist - a cheat! It might be that "Forrester" is going to have to face a few demons of his own if he is to escape his own self-imposed incarceration and begin to live his own life more fully again - and to help his newfoud friend. This is one of Connery's more considered performances and aided by some skillful writing from Mike Rich it gives him an opportunity to revel in a benign and enjoyably sarcastic character whilst working well with the engaging Brown who in turn develops into a thriving young man capable of out-scoring the always reliable Abraham who doesn't appear that often, but still manages to imbue something of his Salieri to the character of a man exemplifying that flawed expression about people who can do and those who can't teach. The arc of the story is a little predictable, and I found it to be a little over-scored, but it's a touching story well held together by two men who straddle cultural and societal gulfs sympathetically. Worth a look.