“I was already sold on the setup.”

I may view this one from a slightly different angle. A lot of the movies I find underrated earned that label because they did things most other films were afraid to try. Specific examples include Alien, Lethal Weapon, and Police Academy. I wouldn’t want to name every single movie that falls into this range, but the idea is that these movies didn’t follow the Hollywood tropes of film. They had diverse casts, and in Alien’s case, a woman as the hero.

If I had to select one movie, though, Lethal Weapon ranks very high and always comes to mind. Instead of the “white savior” trope, it reversed the script. I still feel like I am watching a different version of Hollywood when I watch those movies. Other movies since then have recreated this formula, but very few. The Equalizer, for instance.

When I watched it as a kid, I just enjoyed their dynamic as actors. They genuinely seemed to relish working with each other. I was already a massive fan of them both: Mel Gibson from Mad Max, and Danny Glover, a Frisco native from my neighborhood, from The Color Purple. So the movie itself felt like a presold franchise to me. I was already sold on the setup.

It wasn’t until I was older that I realized most movies paint the white person, or the white family, as stable, and the Black people as needing their help. Seeing that flipped, and watching how the stable Black family poured so much into helping rehab Riggs, was refreshing, and it felt honest. I saw my own family reflected in that, especially in how they treat everyone. A lot of my family has southern roots.

The movie went four films for a reason: a great cast, a different playbook, great stories, and stories that showed us what real love and care look like, unconditionally.

It was unfortunate to hear Mel Gibson say some of the things he has said over the years. But for what he has done in his career, and for what that movie meant to me, it’s my top film for most underrated.Mel Gibson was Mad Max to me. Danny Glover was a San Francisco native, and I knew him from The Color Purple. Put those two in the same movie and I didn’t need a trailer. As a kid, Lethal Weapon felt like a franchise that had been presold to me. I was a fan of both men, and what I saw on screen was two actors who genuinely seemed to enjoy working with each other. That chemistry carried everything.

I didn’t understand what else the movie was doing until I got older.

Most films paint the white person, or the white family, as the stable ones, and the Black characters as the people who need rescuing. Lethal Weapon flipped that. The Murtaugh family was the steady home, and they poured themselves into rehabilitating Riggs, a man who had come apart. They didn’t do it for credit, and they didn’t do it because he’d earned it. They did it because that is what real love and care look like when they’re unconditional.

It felt honest, because I recognized it. A lot of my family has southern roots, and that is how my family treats people. You get fed, you get a seat at the table, and you get taken in.

That is the thread I follow when I think about underrated movies. I don’t mean films nobody saw. I mean films that tried something Hollywood was afraid to try. Alien put a woman at the center as the hero. Police Academy gave us a diverse cast when that wasn’t the formula. Lethal Weapon reversed the script. Watching those movies still feels like glimpsing a different version of Hollywood, one that took a chance.

A few films have borrowed the formula since. The Equalizer comes to mind. Very few have matched it.

Lethal Weapon ran four films, and I don’t think that was an accident. It had a great cast, a different playbook, strong stories, and a heart under the action that audiences could feel.

I’ll be honest about one thing. It was disappointing to hear some of the things Mel Gibson has said over the years. I can hold that and still say what the movie meant to me, and what he did in his career. For that reason, it’s my pick for the most underrated film there is.

Honorable mentions that flip the Hollywood tropes. Alien franchise with Ripley. Police Academy. Mel Brooks films, especially Blazing Saddles. There’s even a joke in Robinhood Men in Tights from Dave Chapelle about his character becoming the sheriff.