What if you are asked to provide a false alibi for someone you love? Add to that pressure the fact that you are an intensely law-abiding citizen at heart, that you are pretty sure your loved one is guilty, and that you know that he may not receive a fair trial? Would you do it? What if you’re a police officer, and you know your partner is doing something he’s not supposed to do while on duty? What if this cop has protected you, then lied to you and threatened your job? The questions in Lobby Hero aren’t easy ones. Fortunately, these and others are pondered by very capable actors. The apartment building at 242 is rundown, dingy, and the unlikely site for the turmoil that erupts there. At the messy desk sits Jeff (Michael Cera), a lonely but affable under achiever with big dreams; his yearning heart is focused on a young female police rookie (Bel Powley). His reverie is interrupted by his supervisor, William (Brian Tyree Henry), a burly man who is very concerned that the local police may be seeking him out to question him about his brother, who’s accused of a brutal murder. The police are indeed interested in William and his brother. The second time we see Officer Bill (Chris Evans), he buddies up to William in an effort to get him to talk. The first time we see Bill, he and his partner (her name is Dawn, which she refuses to tell Jeff) stop by the building so Bill can have an interlude with one of the residents. Dawn has been awestruck by her hunky partner, and why not? Sporting a Tom Selleck mustache, Bill is handsome, charming, and at turns avuncular and flirtatious. It’s enough to sweep any “little girl,” as Bill describes her to Jeff, off her feet. But Bill turns ugly quickly when he feels himself being attacked, and Dawn is hurt and disillusioned. Things go downhill from there. Evans is clearly impressive in his Broadway debut. Cera is a gifted actor who can get a laugh seemingly without effort. Powley is perfectly cast as the rookie; we feel her confusion and her pain. But the real crime here is that the production is very nearly stolen by Henry, who shows us fear, strength, and anguish in the bone-weary William. Lobby Hero is disturbing and funny at the same time, and because of the fine ensemble, worth pondering the tough questions at the heart of the production.
