Directed and written by Bryian Keith Montgomery Jr., Cinnamon is all about Jodi (Hailey Kilgore), who starts the movie working in a gas station and dreaming of being a singer. A cowboy comes in and asks if he can use the bathroom, followed by a man in a motorcycle helmet who asks her to empty out the register. The cowboy tries to play hero and gets shot right in the face, spraying blood everywhere. As for the thief, he ends up being in Jodi’s bathtub, because he’s her boyfriend Eddie (David Iacono) who will do anything to make get her to Los Angeles.

The problem? Her boss Wally (Damon Wayans) is in deep with a crime family led by Mama (Pam Grier) and one of their members is the cowboy who just bled out in Wally’s gas station. That’s when we realize that this movie may start in blacksploitation but will end up feeling like one of those Tarantino-style films that came out so often in the 90s.

That’s not a bad thing. Wayans is divisive in this, as you could see his over the top performance as the wrong note to strike in an otherwise dark drama. But it worked for me and it’s always good to see him in a movie. Grier is great, communicating only through gesture and motion in this. She conveys that she’s in charge and that you could pay the price for crossing her with just the simplest of looks.

I’m not used to Tubi movies having budgets or casts like this, to be perfectly honest.

You can watch this on Tubi.