Director: Ryan Coogler
Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Melonie Diaz, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray
Have I Seen it Before: Here we are. My 1,000th review. I had a list of potential candidates for this entry, but something became clear when I considered this one. I have long put off watching this film. Clearly, there’s an impulse to wait for a particular kind of mood to watch a film dealing with this subject matter. But I swear, the main reason I’ve delayed watching the film is that something was exciting about perpetually having a new Ryan Coogler film to watch.
Ah, well. I’m glad I picked one that I felt some anticipation for as number 1,000.
Did I Like It: Yes.
You probably want more. Okay.
I have a deep, unrelenting suspicion of anyone who can get to the end of this film and not feel palpable anguish. The story unfolded that way in real life, and you can’t escape it, outside of burying yourself in cynicism. Don’t do it. There’s no hope for the world to get any better without confronting the worst parts of the here and now, and the events of January 1, 2009 are very much still the here and now.
But that doesn’t begin to cover Coogler’s calling cards of the skills he has only built upon in the ensuing years. His debut feature is a ruthless machine of character development. In a flash of a runtime, we know, like, and feel for Oscar Grant III (Jordan). There is no knee-jerk impulse on display to artificially graft on a traditional plot to the proceedings. This is Grant’s life. We’re just guests.
But there is a degree of slyness still here. Coogler can’t help it. I run through the entirety of the film and feel like I know where everything is heading. I’m living in the here and now. I know how these stories end, but I didn’t know this story. And yet, I couldn’t help but wonder if there’s a misdirection coming up ahead. Tragedy looms, but is it a tragic end for Oscar? Is it a tragic end for another character? Is it an end at all, and the tragedy will just continue ad infinitum?
There is no misdirection. Somehow, that becomes the greatest misdirect of all. We’re left with an exquisitely crafted portrait of a life, all told in its last day. Had Coogler moved on to diminishing returns, we would still be able to look at the film and see something remarkable.
Thankfully, Coogler was just getting started.