Black Cloud
Most of us are big enough to admit we underestimated Rick Schroder's ability to replace Jimmy Smits in the television series ''NYPD Blue." Clearly, we should've saved our skepticism for the moment when the former child actor attempted to write and direct his own feature film, ''Black Cloud."
In this drama dedicated to ''tribal sovereignty," Schroder plays an unredeemable cowboy who's only around long enough to pick a few fights with the movie's hero, a half-breed Navajo boxing champ named Black Cloud (Eddie Spears). The bulk of the story deals with Black Cloud's raging identity crisis and desperate run at capturing a spot on the Olympic boxing team, and you're on safe ground if you assume his salvation involves the love of a good woman (Jamaica Plain actress Julia Jones, who gives the role far more personality than it deserves), wise tribal elders, and a dance to departed spirits.
Give Schroder props for shining a light on some of the same difficult Native American issues as Chris Eyre (''Skins"). But this film, with its many cliches and borrowed substitutes for creativity, suggests his career in the boxing arena might have peaked with ''The Champ."
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