![]() The audience is not allowed to imagine any other ending we must sit in our chairsand watch in anger and horror about the inevitable tragedy. The suspense is replaced with utterhelplessness. The opening sequence is the raw footage of theshooting, immediately eliminating any possible suspense. If I had to sum up my feelings about Fruitvale Station in one sentence: it is the greatestmovie that I never want to watch again. The movie’s main goal is to force us to remember that no matter what happens in those ninety minutes, it is going to end upwith a man lying face down with a bullet in his back. To be obsessed with whether the real-life Oscar Grantresembled at all the man that is presented in the film or whether those were the exact events ofhis last day would be to misunderstand Coogler’s intent. ![]() Coogler pays ultimate respect to the man Oscar Grant III, mirroring humanity withits complexities and contradictions. ![]() However, Coogler chooses to focus on the little day to day things: pickingup his daughter, driving over to his mother’s house and heading out to the city to party withfriends. This film could haveeasily been about the consequent trial and prosecution or even just a real time film of the eventson the subway. But to focus on that would be to miss Coogler’s objective. Of course there are some flaws with this movie: some heavy handed scenes and blatantforeshadowing feature as well. Jordan nails the charismatic smile, creating a likable, butcomplicated Oscar Grant. Although it may be a lofty juxtaposition, I believe that Jordan compares to Denzel Washingtonwith his ability to transition from the gentle father playing with his daughter to the severe andserious moments on the subway. In contrast, his relationship withhis daughter may be the sweetest and most heartwarming parent-child performance submittedin years. Grant is in no way deified in the movie - we see all the angles of him from himcheating on his wife to him losing his job and dealing drugs. Jordan does not hold back inhis portrayal of Grant he pulls out all the stops on this one. Some people may recognizeJordan from his extensive TV resume, notably as Wallace on The Wire and most Coach Taylorfans will remember him as Vince of Friday Night Lights fame. There must besomething in the name, because this man is destined for stardom. ![]() He presents a film constructed in objective melancholy rather than blindanger.Īt the heart of Fruitvale Station is the performance from Michael B. News and mediacoverage turned Oscar Grant into a symbol, Coogler is able to take deconstruct the symbol andflesh out the man. That path to a better life takes another more major bump that evening as he and Sophina take the BART into San Francisco to ring in the new year, that specific bump happening in an incident at Fruitvale Station in Oakland on their way home.While Ryan Coogler’smasterful directorial and writing debut does not shy away from such issues, to watch this filmexpecting just social commentary upon social commentary would be a mistake. That love for Wanda and his family in general is demonstrated by Oscar spending much of the day preparing for Wanda's birthday party that evening, and willing to help his sister Chantay out of a financial bind despite he not even knowing if he will have enough money to pay his own rent due tomorrow. These bumps are in the process of Oscar truly trying to turn his life around, not only for Sophina and Tatiana's sakes, but his true love for them and of his mother, Wanda, whose support and tough love have fostered that want to be a better person. Oscar is not perfect, he being an ex-con - his prison sentence for dealing drugs - having been caught cheating on Sophina, and having lost his job two weeks ago at the local supermarket from tardiness, his current unemployment which he has not yet told anyone in his hope of getting the job back. Twenty-two year old Oscar Grant, a black man, and his live-in Latina girlfriend Sophina are the parents of a preschool aged daughter Tatiana. Hayward, California, New Year's Eve, 2008.
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