Robert Peace grew up in an impoverished section of Newark and later graduated from Yale with degrees in molecular biophysics and biochemistry while on scholarship. Peace led a dual life in academia and research while also earning six figures selling marijuana. Based on Jeff Hobbs’ bestselling biography.
Chiwetel Ejiofor’s thoughtful adaptation of Hobbs’ biography examines Peace’s struggle to reconcile his academic ambitions with mounting economic and family pressures. Although Peace’s (Jay Will) talents are nurtured from childhood by his devoted mother (Mary J. Blige), he lives in the shadow of his father (Ejiofor) who is imprisoned for a murky double murder. Intellectually curious and restlessly entrepreneurial, Peace lives a divided life, tenaciously working in a university research lab while secretly raising cash for his dad’s defense. Detailing Peace’s dual rise within the ranks of Yale and the Newark drug trade, Rob Peace explores the double bind between being true to one’s dreams and faithful to one’s roots, exposing the contradictions in the American dream for young Black men. Will vividly conveys Peace’s inner turmoil while Ejiofor gives an anguished performance as his mercurial father.—MC
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