Fruitvale Station, 2013.
Written and Directed by Ryan Coogler.
Starring Michael B. Jordan, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray, Melonie Diaz and Octavia Spencer.
SYNOPSIS:
The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident, who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family, and strangers on the last day of 2008.
Ryan Coogler’s directorial debut was a favourite at the Sundance Festival, and deservedly so. It is a stunning piece of narrative that tells the true story of Oscar Grant III (Michael B. Jordan), a 22-year-old Bay Area resident of San Francisco, and his final New Year’s Eve.
The film’s opening scene is shot on a phone and shows a group of unidentified men being detained by police officers on a station platform. The scene is brutal, shocking and nothing we haven’t seen or read about before.
Next we see Oscar in his room with girlfriend Sophina (Melonie Diaz). His amorous advances come to nothing, firstly because Sophina has yet to forgive him for a previous dalliance and secondly, because their daughter Tatiana comes to snuggle between them. Before she does, however, Oscar takes a moment to hide a bagful of weed in the closet. In a matter of minutes, Coogler has provided us with a lot of information about his protagonist: a charmer, a Jack the lad with some shady dealings, but also a loving dad trying to make amends.
Both parents are trying to hold down low-paid jobs and the weed is to make ends meet, particularly as Oscar often has to help out his family financially. He talks to various family members throughout the day in preparation for his mother’s (Octavia Spencer) birthday celebrations and the New Year festivities afterwards. One particularly endearing scene is when Oscar, ostensibly on his day off, is back at his supermarket to buy food for the party. Meeting a pretty girl, who hasn’t a clue how to cook southern fried fish for her boyfriend, Oscar calls his grandma for advice.
Yet this supermarket scene shows us that Oscar can also be menacing and potentially violent: having come to ask his boss for his job back (his dismissal a secret from his girlfriend and family), he grabs the manager’s arm and threatens him. There are many moments like this throughout the film, occasionally concentrating on Oscar’s latent violent streak juxtaposed with his gregarious and loving alter ego. This is a brave but fundamental move from Coogler, who thus avoids turning his film into a hagiographic study of an essentially good but flawed man.
Each of the performances in this film are excellent. Sophina is sympathetic as the long-suffering girlfriend and Octavia Spencer’s Wanda is a strong matriarchal figure, mother not only to her children but to her children’s friends. Kevin Durand, in just a few minutes on screen, packs some powerful emotional punch, as well as a few physical ones. But this is Michael B. Jordan’s film. He never puts a foot wrong throughout his almost constant presence over the 85 minutes. Despite his many defects, this a good man and Coogler has you rooting for him all the way. Shot in just 20 days, Coogler has created a mesmerising and gripping account of a good man who should not have died that day.
Flickering Myth Rating: Film ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★ ★ ★
Jo Ann Titmarsh
Originally published May 16, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
