Rob Peace, directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor, tells the life story of Robert Peace from his childhood to his tragic death. The movie was based on the biography, The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace, written by his college roommate and friend Jeff Hobbs. Rob Peace focuses largely on Peace’s intelligence and drive, as well as his commitment to his father and how that commitment shaped his life.
Rob Peace‘s reviews have passed the performance of Jay Will, who creates an emotional backbone and honors the truth of the story in his performance as Peace. Ejiofor’s movie doesn’t shy away from the tough aspects of Rob Peace’s life, though neither does it wallow in them, showing Peace as a resilient hard worker with positive relationships with friends and family throughout his life. While the movie format necessitates some small changes and additions to the story, much of what Rob Peace depicts closely follows the true story of Robert Peace’s life.
Rob Peace Grew Up In Newark, New Jersey Before Attending Yale University
Peace Was Born In Orange, New Jersey In 1980
As the film illustrates, Rob Peace was born in 1980 and grew up in Orange, a city near Newark, New Jersey. He was primarily raised by his mother, Jackie, but he also spent regular time with his father, Skeet. His parents knew that he was academically gifted from a young age, and his mother worked several jobs to send him to St. Benedict’s Preparatory School, which she felt would help him excel. Rob Peace also shows him as having several close friendships and being active in sports, which is accurate to Peace’s real life.
Then, in 1998, Peace began his studies at Yale University and majored in molecular biophysics and biochemistry. His tuition was sponsored by Charles Cawley, a banker who had also attended St. Benedict’s. As outlined in the 2024 drama movie, while at Yale, Robert Peace continued playing water polo and was even captain of the team for two years. He worked in a cancer lab at Yale Medical School while continuing to excel in his studies. Peace also worked in the dining hall and sold marijuana to make extra money. Robert Peace finished his degree and graduated with honors in 2002.
What Rob Peace’s Father Went To Jail For & Was He Actually Guilty?
Peace’s Father Was Convicted Of Murder
In 1987, when Rob was seven years old, his father was arrested for the murder of two women who lived in his apartment building. Skeet Douglas, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor in the movie, was later convicted and sent to prison for the rest of his life (via FindLaw). This sequence in the movie is also fairly similar to the real occurrence as the trial really did happen in 1990, three years after the murders occurred. Furthermore, one defense witness had died, and two other witnesses had since moved away.
While the guilty ruling was never overturned, Skeet Douglas maintained that he was innocent until his death.
As depicted in Rob Peace, Robert Peace did try to help get his father out of jail, and they did successfully file a petition stating that his father’s Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial had been violated. However, this motion was later overturned. Peace frequently visited his father in jail throughout Skeet’s life and seems to have believed in his father’s innocence, repeatedly trying to exonerate him. While the guilty ruling was never overturned, Skeet Douglas maintained that he was innocent until his death.
Rob Peace Started Selling Drugs To Try To Get His Dad Out Of Jail
Rob Peace Sold Marijuana While At Yale
From a young age, Rob Peace was invested in helping his dad get out of jail by studying the case and potential ways to prove his father’s innocence, and when Peace went to Yale this effort continued. In Rob Peace, Peace is shown thinking of ways to make extra money to help pay for his father’s legal fees. Beyond his work in the Yale dining hall, Peace decided to use lab equipment from his department to create designer marijuana to sell across campus. He allegedly made $100,000 from this business, making him the biggest dealer on Yale’s campus.
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Within the film, this number is the target amount for Peace to be able to pay for all his father’s legal fees, but Hobb’s book does not specify exactly what the money was used for. Additionally, while it is not entirely clear whether Peace started selling drugs to help his father, he did continue selling marijuana after his father’s death. After graduating from Yale, Rob Peace moved back to Newark and worked as a biology teacher at St. Benedict’s, then later worked at Newark Liberty International Airport, but continued selling weed throughout that time.
Rob Peace’s Father Died In 2006 In Jail
Skeet Douglas Was Diagnosed With Brain Cancer
In Rob Peace, one of Peace’s primary motivations for helping his father, Skeet, in the second half of the movie came from Skeet being diagnosed with brain cancer. Because Robert Peace worked in a cancer research lab, the film depicts him as being invested in trying to find any possible treatment for his father. While Peace’s commitment to his father was accurate to real life, as was Skeet’s diagnosis and death, Peace’s father did not pass away while he was at Yale.
In real life, Skeet Douglas’s diagnosis and death came after Robert Peace’s graduation. Peace’s father lived his life in jail until his death in 2006. By this time, Robert Peace had already moved back to Newark and was 26 years old. He was working as a teacher at his alma mater, and would not have been conducting any studies in a cancer research lab. However, this experience could have been a factor in Peace’s later decision to begin applying to graduate school.
Rob Peace Was Shot & Killed In 2011 But His Killer Was Never Identified
Rob Peace Was Remembered With A Large Funeral Full Of Family And Friends
Though Rob Peace had begun to regain his former interest in academia and was looking at graduate schools, he was murdered in May 2011. Alongside his other jobs, Peace was still selling marijuana and was shot and killed in a marijuana growhouse at the age of 30, similar to the story presented in Rob Peace. After Robert Peace’s death, the police arrested one of his friends who owned the house Peace was shot in. His friend was arrested for the amount of marijuana confiscated from the property, not on suspicion of Peace’s murder (via NJ.com).
Following the release of his biography, Hobbs shared with NPR that 400 people attended Peace’s funeral in Newark.
Tragically, Peace’s killer was never identified, leaving the crime unsolved for over a decade. However, Robert Peace was remembered by his family and friends both in Newark and at Yale. Following the release of his biography, Hobbs shared with NPR that 400 people attended Peace’s funeral in Newark. Now, the release of Rob Peace has ensured that the story of Peace’s life will continue to be told, and he will be remembered for his compassion and intelligence.
Rob Peace is a biographical drama written and directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor and was released in 2024. Based on the biography by Jeff Hobbs, Rob Peace follows the titular man who grew up in a life of poverty and crime in New Jersey but still managed to attain an Ivy League education at Yale while making money selling marijuana on the side.
- Cast
- Jay Will , Mary J. Blige , Chiwetel Ejiofor , Camila Cabello , Michael Kelly
- Release Date
- January 22, 2024
- Runtime
- 119 Minutes
