Movie Review: ‘Tijuana Jackson’

Review by Monique Thompson

Tijuana Jackson is a man determined to move beyond his checkered past and achieve his ambition of becoming a world-renowned motivational speaker. When asked to be the subject of a 10-minute student film, TJ leaps at the opportunity.

STARRING: Romany Malco, Regina Hall, Tami Roman, Alkoya Brunson

Who said an ex-con couldn’t become a motivational speaker?! Tijuana “TJ” Jackson is destined to become more than his checkered past. While on parole, TJ (Malco) is approached by a local film student to do a short film. TJ immediately realizes this opportunity is perfect for his newly motivational speaker path that he has decided to embark on. When TJ is released, his family is excited but a part of them still feels as though he may return back to prison. TJ is dedicated to proving them wrong and become a role model for is nephew Lil’ Eric.

Most of TIJUANA JACKSON is just crude jokes and humor. There’s not really a definitive storyline here except for “ex-con becomes motivational speaker”. The main premise is following TJ along his journey and witnessing the dysfunction yet normally of his life. But rooted in the film’s lude jokes, Malco addresses systemic racism and mass incarceration of minorities, especially African Americans. In an interview, Malco discussed the strategy behind the “mockumentary”

When you listen to the way that the character talks, and you look at the subject matter, and you combine that with his antics and the comedic tone, things are raw. Things are very raw. And for some reason, not breaking that fourth wall just didn’t seem to meet the authenticity of everything else involved in the project. And I also realized that what was missing was I needed that one audience member going along for the ride … we needed someone outside of that ecosystem to be the observer and represent the audience. And that’s where the idea for a documentarian came into the picture.

So basically, there’s a message behind the madness. I personally couldn’t get with TIJUANA JACKSON but check it out for yourself.