Why I Saw It: I've heard great things about Michael B. Jordan's performance.
Cast: Michael B. Jordan is certainly the star of this tragic tale. He does a great job of showing Oscar Grant as both a sweet guy and one who has flaws that can get him in trouble. I'd be more than happy to see his name still floating around during award season. Melonie Diaz is solid and Octavia Spencer does a great job as his mother. I was very impressed by Ariana Neal, who plays Grant's daughter. She sold a lot of moment better than you'd assume a kid that young would. Also, Chad Michael Murray alert. Wasn't expecting to see him pop up.
Plot: It's basically following Oscar around for the day leading up to the unfortunate circumstances at Fruitvale Station, although it begins by showing a phone recording of the actual events, so it's not meant to be a secret what happens. The movie definitely paints a complete picture of his life, although it often can't help itself from painting Grant as a saint. That gets a little heavy-handed but it's sold well by Jordan and they certainly give him a lot of moments of rage and bullishness that makes it easy to see why he, say, had been to jail or lost his job. This is certainly a character study more than a plot-driven movie.
Elephant in the Room: How did they handle the events at Fruitvale Station? This is where I tell you that he gets shot. That's not a spoiler. Read the fucking news. Ok, the movie doesn't hide that Grant does something wrong. Certainly enough to be questioned by police ('questioned' being the key word). I fully believe there was no reason for him to have been shot and the police were using excessive force. The police in the movie, however, were cartoonishly bad. They could've toned that down some. Otherwise, I'd say it was pretty fair to what actually happened.
To Sum Things Up:
I wouldn't say this is the best movie I've seen all year or anything, It does have some of the best performances I've see though. Its release is fortuitously timely given the recent Zimmerman verdict and all. For that reason, I almost recommend waiting to see this so it can be appreciated for its own merits rather than as part of a larger discussion. I quite enjoyed it though.
Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend
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