A young gay man joins the marines to gain acceptance from his estranged mother in The Inspection. Ellis French (Jeremy Pope) has been living on the streets since he was 16 due to his mother, Inez (Gabrielle Union) disowning him for being gay. To win back his mother's love, French enlists in the marines and heads to Bootcamp headed by strict senior drill sergeant Laws (Bokeem Woodbine). Despite the victim of homophobic bullying from the other recruit, particularly squad leader Harvey (McCaul Lombardi), French is taken under the wing of drill sergeant Rosales (Raúl Castillo) and learns to become his own man.
The Inspection is a semi-autobiographical drama from writer/director Elegance Bratton, who was kicked out at 16 by his mother for being gay and enrolled in the marines. Despite the military being an inherently homophobic environment, Ellis French uses his time in Bootcamp to become more self-confident as an individual, thanks to the guidance of drill sergeant Rosales, to whom he is secretly attracted.
Despite The Inspection being set in 2005, this story of a young gay man trying to find himself and acceptance from his estranged mother is still quite timely in this day and age. Despite only appearing in a handful of scenes, Gabrielle Union gives an awards-worthy performance, opposite the more comic roles she is known for, as Inez French, who deeply loves her son Ellis, but refuses to love who he is. Altogether, The Inspection is quite a solid debut for Elegance Bratton.
