BEFORE: Michael B. Jordan carries over from "Fahrenheit 451", to a film from the director of "Black Panther" that I've heard good things about, but still managed to learn nearly nothing about. I'll watch just about anything right now that gets me one step closer to the Summer Rock Concert, even if it costs me $2.99 to watch this On Demand.
THE PLOT: The story of Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident, who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008.
AFTER: This is another of those based-on-a-true event type movies, though again, I was unfamiliar with the story of Oscar Grant and what happened to him, and in my mind, the film slipped up by showing us the incident in question right away, then flashing back to show us how things came to that point. Which of course is very trendy these days, "Atomic Blonde" did basically the same thing, showing us the end (or an important moment near the end) and then proceeding with the flashbacks. And you know I hate this sort of structure - at one point in "Fruitvale Station" Oscar flashes back to the previous year, when he was in prison, but that's a flashback WITHIN a flashback. That shouldn't be allowed, not ever, because people don't live like that, all jumping around in time. Start at the beginning, end at the end, I always say.
Other than that flashback, which really should be ignored and discounted, because it doesn't really add anything to the story that couldn't have been stated with a line or two of dialogue, the film shows a day in the life of Oscar Grant, and good things happen during the day, and bad things happen during that day, and it's all very normal and mundane, umm, until it isn't. That may seem frustrating, but it's the point of the film (and I think the only point, unfortunately, because the film doesn't seem able to dive too deeply into the causes of the incident, or the backgrounds of the others involved).
Look, I'm not going to get into the debate over Black Lives Matter, or Blue Lives Matter, or even All Lives Matter, because I don't really have a dog in that fight, and I don't think those statements should be contradictory or exclusionary, but that's the way that everyone seems to use them. This film won a bunch of prizes at Cannes and Sundance and such, but it's just not in my wheelhouse. I didn't even pick up on who the guy on the train was, and how he knew Oscar from before. I guess I should have paid more attention?
This was supposed to be a week of sci-fi and fantasy films and this one doesn't fit in with that topic at all, so I'm just going to use it for the link I need and move on.
Also starring Octavia Spencer (last seen in "Hidden Figures"), Melonie Diaz (last seen in "Hamlet 2"), Ahna O'Reilly (last seen in "CBGB"), Kevin Durand (last seen in "Hard Time: Hostage Hotel"), Chad Michael Murray, Ariana Neal (also last seen in "Hidden Figures"), Caroline Lesley, Jonez Cain, Trestin George, Marjorie Crump-Shears.
RATING: 5 out of 10 crab legs
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