“White working-class Americans without college educations” have become a favorite topic of pundits covering this year’s Democratic primary, but this strong feature debut by writer-director-editor Brian Jun reminds us that their lives are far more complex — and their social circles far more diverse — than stereotypes suggest. As “Steel City” opens, young P.J. Lee (Tom Guiry) is in shock from a fatal auto accident in which a woman has been killed, and his father (veteran actor John Savage, who also gets an associate producer credit) is likely to be spending several years in jail as a result. In the meantime, P.J. has to figure out what to do with his life and who to spend it with, and he’s having a hard time. His loutish older brother (Clayne Crawford) is too busy breaking-up his own family to be much help. His new romance with a smart, sweet-natured Latina coworker (America Ferrera, pre “Ugly Betty”) should be going well, but he’s ambivalent about her weight and her ethnicity. His long-divorced mother (Laurie Metcalf, “Roseanne”) is married to a black policeman (James McDaniel) who may or may not like P.J., but nevertheless seems interested in recruiting Brian into the force. Meanwhile, the only person actually able to provide substantial help is a cantankerous but possibly benign uncle he’s only met recently (Raymond J. Barry delivering a stand-out performance).
“Steel City” occasionally lapses into the kind of overly serious, overly tasteful clichés so common to films like this that make their debut at Sundance, but this is a compelling, humane, and thoughtful film that respects its audience’s intelligence and commands its attention. Not yet thirty, Brian Jun is a new filmmaker worth noting.
