“Papillon” is a story of survival. It is the story of the unbreakable spirit in a man named Henri Charrière. He was a safecracker in Paris in the early 1930’s. His nickname was “Papillon” for the tattoo of a butterfly on his chest (it is French for butterfly). He worked with a low-rent crime boss, and earned enough to impress his girlfriend. But when he failed to impress the crime boss, he was framed for murder and sent to French Guiana. That island off of the coast of South America was home to a horrible prison camp. He was sent there and never was expected to return.

Papillon (Charlie Hunnam) is a talented thief, and he is a ladies man. He has a sweetheart named Nenette (Eve Hewson) who wants to sell the diamonds that he just robbed go to live in the country. The trouble is, the merciless crime boss wanted to have all the diamonds that Papi stole, but Papi kept a few for himself. Big Mistake. Next thing Papi knows is that he is charged with murder and sentenced to serve at the penal colony at Devil’s Island in French Guiana. On the ship sending the convict to the prison island, Papi meets Louis Dega (Rami Malek). Dega is an artist and a forgery expert, who was extremely wealthy. Dega was able to carry quite a bit of cash in — ahem — Deadpool 2 would call it a “Prison Wallet”.

Papillon was big and strong and willing to fight off any goons who attempted to kill Dega. So Papi agreed to protect Dega, as long as Dega would finance any escape attempt for Papillon. The protection and the financing parts worked out fine. The escaping part did not. Papi was able to try and escape, but when he did make it out the front gate, he did not make it very far. Papillon was sentenced to internal solitary confinement for two years.

Part of that time, Dega was able to pay off a trustee to deliver a hidden coconut to Papillon in his isolated cell. When the warden found out, he demanded that Papi tell him who paid for the coconut. But Papi was loyal, and silent. There where other escape attempts, and soon Papi was spending more time in solitary than in general population. Louis Dega could not make it through confinement, but the warden trusted Dega to handle the prison financial books. He was able to be a position of security. More escapes were planned, and with some assistance they made it off the island and landed in Colombia. But the long French arm of the law found them again. Dega was sent to Devil’s Island, and Papi (again) to solitary confinement. He was there for such a long time that he hallucinated most of the time. Then he was sent to join Dega at Devil’s Island.

At the Island, there was no method to escape. There were impossible cliffs around the deadly jagged rocks at the base, where the waves would crash violently into the Island. But past the base, there was a gentle tide, and tide pulled out into the sea — and off to a current that lead to the mainland. If only Papillon could devise a way to get past the danger zone, he could float gently out to freedom. Dega would not dream of leaving the Island, even if it meant dying there. However, Papi — he could not live the rest of his life in captivity. He would finally escape, or he would die trying…

Charlie Hunnam is well cast and has a physical appearance that resembles Steve McQueen. McQueen played Papi in the original movie adaptation. Hunnan plays Papi as strong and shows a brutal willingness to do anything, just to survive. Rami Malek plays Degas with an air of sophistication that is above an ordinary convict. The way that all of the historical places are recreated is excellent. At the end of the movie there are black-and-white photos of the actual prison. They have been able to capture that quite well.

The reason that a remake of “Papillon” was required to be made now is unclear. But the effort that is made to make this movie will not make you think of trying to escape the theater.

“Blindspotting” is a movie that moves with a rhythm and a rhyme of a hip-hop rave, to the hipsters in the street and the gangsters in the grave, there in a city in rebirth, being reborn, but not without pains, as the losses and gains pile up on the people who whose spirit has left but the flesh remains – worn down by the pressure and how it oppresses, with too many failures with too few successes, when the white and black and rich and poor are seeing only divisions, and not visions of together and futures always better – being all just one city and one family forever.

That concludes the ‘ hip-hop & rap’ portion of this review.

Collin (Daveed Diggs) has grown up with his close friend Miles (Rafael Casal) in the poor side of Oakland. The city has changed so much and Collin and Miles have trouble keeping up. Miles is a little too hot-headed and can easily erupt in anger. Collin has been in trouble with the law and he is a few days from the end of his probation period. If he can get through the next few days, living at a half-way house with very strict rules, Collin with have much of his freedom back. But Miles will always be a threat to Collin, if he happens to be around him at the wrong time.

Collin and Miles both work at a moving company. Collin’s ex-girlfriend Val (Janina Gavankar) runs the front desk. They rarely speak of the incident that caused Collin to be arrested a year ago. Miles has a current girlfriend and a little boy. But he thinks that the local neighborhood has gotten so bad that he needs to carry a gun. Parenting Alert: handguns and little boys usually do not mix. Collin is anxious that Miles is holding a weapon, because if he ever gets stopped by the police, there is a guarantee of more jail time.

There is a night when Collin is driving the moving truck back after work, and he is stopped at a light. He needs to be back very soon, because the curfew time is near. But there is a man who runs in front of his truck, and he is black and running into the night. And soon the man is followed by a policeman, and there is an ‘Officer-involved shooting’, right next to Collin. He is afraid to stick around, so he leaves in the truck and tries to forget what happened. But that will be impossible to forget.

Over the course of the next couple of days, Collin tries to reconnect with Val, and he tries to create a distance from Miles. There is the shooting that is still in his mind, and it makes him think that any day might be his last. Color creates differences in the people of the hood. There are new sections that are being renovated, where all the old buildings are now worth so much more. The long-term, old-time residents are being pushed out. Including a photographer named Patrick (Wayne Knight), whom the guys help get packed for a move elsewhere.

Eventually, the incident that caused Collin’s arrest is revealed, and it is handled with an amusing touch. But even later, there is an impromptu meeting between Collin and the Officer (Ethan Embry) – from the ‘Officer-involved shooting’. Collin is beside himself with rage, and there is almost a new ‘incident’. But Collin is able to pull himself back from the brink, and he is able to walk away knowing that he was the better man.

Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal have written a bittersweet love letter to their Oakland home. They have hit on so many themes that it is dizzying to watch. But they wrote the characters that they know, and then also acted out as those real human beings. Their work is impressive, as first-time writers and then playing out the story they know so well. Also Carlos López Estrada has done a splendid job as the first-time director.

Other than a couple of times when the change in tone is little too abrupt, or when the story strays onto the side of farce rather than drama – it sticks to a steady beat of honest daily toil in an indifferent city. Diggs and Casal have captured a good look into a rough life. They could have had a little better inclusion of some normal white guys, though. All of the white characters are either black-culture infused like Miles, or they are Portlandia hipster types, or they are ignorant racist cops.

Opens July 27th in Phoenix theaters