The Importance of Being Dangerous

Set in New York City in the mid 1990s, this uneven thriller from Rutgers law professor Troutt (The Monkey Suit) delivers a somewhat murky political message. Attractive single mother Sidarra, a frustrated employee of what she's derisively renamed the Department of Miseducation, struggles to make ends meet. Her chance attendance at a Harlem investment seminar leads her into a criminal alliance with Griff, a hunky defense attorney trapped in an unhappy marriage, and computer whiz Yakoob, whose skills enable the trio to steal credit information from rich whites who they think have harmed the black community. Sidarra, an idealist who chafes at the corporate, child-unfriendly approach of her bosses, lines her pockets with few qualms. The explicit sex scenes between Sidarra and Griff do nothing to advance the plot or develop the characters, while the finale will come as no surprise.