Movie Reaction: If Beale Street Could Talk

Formula: Crown Heights ^ Moonlight

I've been stuck for the last couple of years. Moonlight is firmly on my list of "movies I wish I loved". I like Barry Jenkins a lot. From interviews, he seems like an incredibly thoughtful, nice, intelligent, charming, and cool dude. I wish nothing but all the success in the world for him. 2016 forced a lot of people into camps (team Moonlight and team La La Land), which I thought was dumb (I can like both). But, if I had to pick one, yeah, La La Land was the clear winner for me, even though I have nothing against Moonlight. For some reason though, Moonlight just left me cold. I appreciated it on technical merit, but didn't have the same emotional response that a lot of people did. I've watched it three times now - alone, in groups, in a theater, at home, night, day. I still can't match the love. And maybe it's one of those things where a B+ doesn't look so impressive when everyone else gets an A+ (i.e. I only like Moonlight, but that doesn't seem like enough because everyone else loves it). Regardless, it's been two years of listening to people talk about it as a masterpiece and a triumph, and I couldn't join in earnestly. Going into Barry Jenkins' follow-up If Beale Street Could Talk, I was really worried that I just wasn't a Barry Jenkins fan as a director.

Thankfully, I can report that I'm sincerely on the Barry Jenkins hype train now.

If Beale Street Could Talk is based on a James Baldwin novel of the same name, and I'm told that translating Baldwin's language to film is no easy task. The movie tells the story of a young African American couple in Harlem in the 70s: Tish and Fonny. Fonny is sent to prison for a crime he almost certainly couldn't've committed right as Tish finds out that she's pregnant with their child. So, while their families work toward proving Fonny's innocence, going up against a system designed to make sure he's found guilty, Tish tries to adapt to her new situation while looking back on the early days of their relationship. All this makes Beale Street sound more plotty than it is. Much like Moonlight, the mood and the emotion are what drive the film, not the specifics of the story. There's almost a Jazz quality to it, like it's moving in and out of thoughts as they happen. There are long theatrical scenes, haunting dream-like shots, and picturesque memories all woven together.

I'll get the the great actors in a moment, but the stars of the movie are director Barry Jenkins, director of photography James Laxton, composer Nicholas Britell, and all the behind the camera people. This movie is just plain beautiful to look at. Moonlight was still somewhat grounded to reality the way it was shot. Beale Street feels and looks like poetry. I'm assuming that a lot of James Baldwin's dialogue was left untouched, because all the words flow so distinctly, and the photography matches the rhythms. I loved looking at and listen to this movie. All the tones, colors, and shades jump off the screen.

It's a little hard to talk about the performances in the movie, only because they are so much in service of what Barry Jenkins is doing. They are all supporting characters in that way. Kiki Layne really impressed me, especially given that this is her first feature film. She's plays Tish as someone very delicate but with unassuming strength beneath. Stephan James plays Fonny as realistic and idealized to match how much of the film is Tish's perception of the world, and she really loves him. Most impressive is how he manages non-violent anger. Fonny has a temper and can get physical with that anger, but it's never in a threatening way. I could see how someone who carries Fonny's anger could commit the crime Fonny is accused of, but I don't believe Fonny could do it. And that's in James' performance. Enough will be said about Regina King as she wins every award for her role in this as Tish's mother in the next couple months. The most I can say is that she will deserve every single win. Some lesser appreciated work comes from Teyonah Parris and Brian Tyree Henry. Both of them only really get one scene each to shine, but they are the kind of scenes that Beatrice Straight and Judi Dench have won Oscars for.

Beale Street isn't perfect. It ran a little long. The filmmaking was so rich, that I really needed it in a smaller dose. By the end, I was getting overwhelmed. Jenkins does try a little too hard at times to get the most artistic shot. He loves the look of cigarette smoke a little too much in this. And his way of announcing characters in those solo shots is in danger of being overused. There's a fine line between a director have a signature shot and it becoming ripe for parody. Something like Spike Lee's dolly shots are a good example. He had to pull back on using that before it started being called a crutch. That's more of a future concern for Jenkins though. For now, it's exquisite.

I just finished my 2018 top movie list last week, so I'm still in that mindset. If Beale Street Could Talk isn't like I Tonya last year, which I came out of immediately ready to shake up my top 10 to find room for it. I do wish Beale Street came out sooner so I could appropriately place it among the upper tier of movies this year. Unlike most awards movies for 2018, there isn't much to pick at here. Barry Jenkins made a distinctive film that's a worthy follow-up to his Best Picture winner.

Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend