This powerful story, which really happened, of a young black man who was shot by transit police on January 1, 2009 will leave you sad and angry. It deservedly won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at Sundance last winter and another prize at Cannes in May for director/writer Ryan Coogler's first feature. Michael B. Jordan (I know him best as Haddie's boyfriend Alex on 16 episodes of Parenthood) shines as Oscar Grant, who keeps sliding back down a slippery slope as he tries to make good in his life. Octavia Spencer (last blogged in Smashed) is wonderful as Oscar's loving but frustrated mother, and she also co-produced (with actor Forest Whitaker and others), calling upon her friend, author Kathryn Stockett (The Help), to help fund this project. Melonie Diaz has a distinctive look that I recognized from Be Kind Rewind (2008), Hamlet 2, and others, and also gives us love and frustration as Oscar's baby mama Sophina. Mention must be made of the adorable Ariana Neal as their daughter Tatiana. Neal's self-assuredness may be explained by the fact that she's been singing in front of audiences since she was 5 and can't be more than 9 in this movie.
The University of Southern California is rightfully proud of its eight graduates who collaborated on this movie (article), including Coogler, Whitaker, and composer Ludwig Göransson (his first feature but he's been working for a while, notable on the TV serieses New Girl, Community, and Happy Endings). Here's an article about him with videos and a link where you can listen to a lot of his work on a loop. And imdb has provided this list of songs.
For fellow sufferers of MPMS, or Motion Picture Motion Sickness, you're in luck. Since this was released this week, in August, chances are excellent that you'll be able to watch it on DVD before further awards start piling up. On the big screen, in a theatre with not a lot of rows, I had to avert my eyes frequently, more and more as time went on, to keep from getting nauseated.
That said, this is worth seeing. The Bay Area Rapid Transit Authority is to be congratulated for taking responsibility and for allowing the filmmakers to shoot in the actual Fruitvale Station in Oakland.
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