Night Catches Us

Set in 1976 Philadelphia, this tale is mainly about a splintered group of ex–Black Panthers keeping it real in pre-Carter America. Although fists are raised in a propulsive title sequence, the movie is built on a much trickier mood—that of resignation, tarnished idealism and compromise. But director Tanya Hamilton’s original script, daringly quiet, feels too divorced from incident to bring its interpersonal frictions to a boil.