Jack and I loved this story of an African-American boy struggling with bullies, loneliness, and worse. It starts slow and dreamy, then picks up speed, and slows down again. Jack said we always feel like something bad is about to happen.
Three actors portray our hero Chiron (pronounced Shy-rone, not like the mythical Greek centaur Kye-ron) (for a spoiler-filled analysis of the relationship between the Greek myth and this movie, read this article after seeing the movie): Alex Hibbert as the nine year old in a powerful acting debut, Ashton Sanders (his third feature, including a small part in Straight Outta Compton) is terrific as the 16 year old, and Trevante Rhodes (two other features, some TV, and six upcoming projects) is good as well as the grown up. Chiron's best friend Kevin is well done by Jaden Piner, Jharrel Jerome, and most especially André Holland (acting debut for Piner, feature debut for Jerome, and Holland was last blogged for Black or White). The adults in Chiron's life are Mahershala Ali (he has lots of credits besides 33 episodes of House of Cards as Remy Danton, including The Place Beyond the Pines, though I failed to mention him), singer Janelle Monáe (did voices for one animated TV episode and a small part in an animated feature before this, though she'll be one of the stars of the upcoming Christmas movie Hidden Figures), and Naomie Harris (since I profiled her in The First Grader she was in, among others, two James Bond movies--Skyfall and Spectre) as his mother.
When director/writer Barry Jenkins' first feature Medicine for Melancholy (2008) was released to much acclaim I meant to see it. This has earned even more acclaim, with 9 wins, 14 nominations, and counting. I'm keeping a running total of some of my favorite awards on this page. Jenkins' sophomore effort, this is adapted from a play by Tarell Alvin McCraney, himself an award winner, though many scenes have very little dialogue. Speaking of which, when there is dialogue it can be hard to understand and the format on which it was shot does not allow for closed captions, either now on the big screen or later on small, so you'll have to pay close attention.
Lots of songs will entertain you, along with original music by Nicholas Britell, streaming on a spotify playlist at the bottom of this link.
Cinematographer James Laxton (pictured here with his steadicam) clearly had fun with this picture, shooting in Miami. There's an opening dolly shot that circles and circles the characters and moves around after that. I wish I had timed it--it lasts a long time! Unfortunately, this movie could make some people a bit nauseated. I keep a list of movies that cause MPMS-Motion Picture Motion Sickness on this page and Moonlight is on it.
Acclaimed is right, Rotten Tomatoes' critics are averaging 98% and its audiences 91 in its sixth week of release (only two weeks in the "lesser" cities). Highly recommended and aptly rated R.
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