![]() Expanding two weeks later, the film barely surpassed the 1,000 theater mark, where it cracked the Top 10 for just one weekend. Coogler's confident debut may play a little loose with the facts, but it's convincing dramatically with its obvious indie film credibility never in doubt.įruitvale Station drew some of 2013's best reviews when it was released to theaters in mid-July. It may not have the classy period costumes and sunny plantation scenery and its dialogue may feature more utterances of "bruh" than you'd like, but Fruitvale Station seems much harder not to be moved by. Maybe it is just a lot easier to relate to a modern man than an 1840s one who becomes the victim of a repugnant institution. Unflinching though it may be, it does not resonate for me in the way it means to. McQueen's drama, a presumed Oscar frontrunner, is just as manipulative in its presentation. We get to know him very well and appreciate what he means to others.Ĭoogler's film makes for an interesting contrast with Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave, which similarly dramatizes a true story of tragic hardship endured by a respectable black family man. Our time in Oscar's shoes is well-spent and rewarding. Coogler packs the film with authentic detail and lots of feeling. It produces emotions inside you, which is what all films hope to do. In fact, this heartbreaking drama deserves credit for breaking your heart. As the film presents it, his fate is not his fault in the slightest, which makes it all the more tragic and painful.įruitvale Station perhaps can be called "the feel-bad movie of 2013", but that does it a disservice. Whether the real Oscar Grant was as noble, we can't know. Coogler shows us a decent young man who has erred before and is now trying to stay on the right path. He honors his mother's birthday and evidently helps his sister pay rent. But he's kind to his child, strangers, and a stray dog. Oscar is not a saint he has a wandering eye and has been caught cheating on Sophina before. His New Year's Eve plans include celebrating the birthday of his mother Wanda (Octavia Spencer) and then taking in the annual fireworks in "Frisco" (that's nearby San Francisco).īefore night falls, Oscar tries to get his job back, helps a clueless girl buy what she needs for her first fish fry, and dumps his stash of weed in the ocean. ![]() A flashback reveals a year earlier Oscar was in jail. Coogler gives us a day in the life of a young man who by all accounts seems like a really nice guy. He'd much rather work at the grocery store that let him go two weeks ago for repeatedly showing up late.įirst time writer/director Ryan Coogler renders this a docudrama, one whose subjects might not seem significant until the ending makes all clear. That is not, however, an occupation Oscar wishes to continue. He also has tattoos on his body that suggest a hardened past and a large bag of marijuana stashed in his closet which establishes him as a drug dealer. The 22-year-old "Osc" has a 4-year-old daughter named Tatiana (Ariana Neal) with his serious girlfriend Sophina (Melonie Diaz). The film then takes us back around 24 hours to get us much better acquainted with Oscar and the people in his life to whom he is a father, a son, and a lover. You may not fully comprehend that shaky, low-res impromptu footage, but see enough to know that 2009 is not going to start well for Oscar Grant (Michael B. On the other hand, it serves as powerful foreshadowing, hanging over everything that follows like The Ghost of New Year Yet to Come. ![]() That design reduces the element of surprise that might otherwise exist should you enter not knowing about this appalling encounter. Fruitvale Station opens with cell phone video of the real incident its climax dramatizes that occurred in the titular Oakland, California transit terminal in the early morning hours of New Year's Day 2009.
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