Let Me Be Frank

I love the subtle spirit of hope behind Ryan Silva’s story of an unlikely friendship in Let Me Be Frank. Young adults, Reggie and Maya (Ryan Silva and Lora Lee), recently moved to Los Angeles to find fame and fortune. Reggie is here to work on his music, and Maya is an aspiring model/actress.

As you know, the first thing one has to do in L.A. is find a place to live…a place you can afford. Luckily, a small apartment is available. All the couple must do is impress apartment manager Frank (Freddy Andreiuci). The studio apartment tour leads quickly to the uncomfortable discussion of Reggie and Maya’s barely existent income.

Frank is able to find sympathy for the couple as they are all originally from New York. However, as Frank talks about how tough it was growing up in New York, he inadvertently drops the N-word, which annoys (understatement) Reggie for obvious reasons. Determining that Reggie and Maya have the right work ethic, Frank offers the couple the apartment, but Maya is unsure of their racist apartment manager.

The couple decides to go ahead and move in. Opportunities for the couple come in but come in slow. One day, Maya gets the opportunity to film a music video backstage at Coachella for the weekend but needs someone to “play” her boyfriend. Reggie refuses to go because he’d never attend a music festival unless he were performing at one. Soon, Maya and Reggie get into an argument, and she storms off to Coachella upset.

“…Frank talks about how tough it was growing up in New York, he inadvertently drops the N-word…”

Not wanting to be alone, a frustrated Reggie essentially invites himself to hand out with Frank while Maya is gone for the weekend. So now we have a movie as Let Me Be Frank is essentially Frank and Reggie’s weekend together. After the N-word incident, Frank and Reggie’s relationship had been semi-icy, but as the ice melt, the two find that they have as much in common as they don’t…if that makes sense.

Frank came to Los Angeles to become an actor. After scant moments of success, his dream to be an actor became a dream, but his experience gives Reggie the valuable insight he needs to survive in Tinseltown. Reggie then invites Frank to his barbershop, where Frank gets a lesson in the tumultuous relationship between Black Americans and the police. Then there’s the uncomfortable N-word discussion.

Let Me Be Frank works because, ultimately, it’s about building bridges between cultures and generations. Setting people against each other seems to be what dramas are all about in Big Hollywood, but Ryan Silva’s story decides that bringing disparate people together is the better solution. Life is not easy, and we can choose to get through it together. We can also see that empathy and forgiveness is the better option.

I wouldn’t call Let Me Be Frank high drama. The acting by Ryan Silva and Freddy Andreiuci is very laid back, and much like real life, we don’t always have to be yelling at one another when we disagree. I would say it’s refreshing to watch a story about people who earnestly want to find a way to reach across the great racial divide, break out of our comfort zone, and find friendship.