Fruitvale Station

It seems that a lot of things we learn in life pile on. For example if you learn about human trafficking you might see a movie about it in the same week or hear about it in news stories for the next month. While the truth is that stuff like that has been happening your whole life, you finally are acquainted with it's presence and begin to become fully aware of its impact on the world. While this might be getting deep for a movie review, I feel like something like this has been happening to me recently. See I grew up in middle class suburbia and was taught that policemen are honest, good working people that have the best intentions for protecting civilians. Over the past year though my eyes have been slowly opened to the falsity of this idea. While certainly not every policeman is corrupt, I am becoming aware that there are bad cops out there who have done some horrible atrocities over the years. It all started with my Criminology class that showed me how many innocent people were set up and how huge corporations get away with mass murders yearly. Then two movies I saw recently helped me grasp a personal perspective on this corruption, first In The Name Of The Father and now recently Fruitvale Station.

Fruitvale Station follows Oscar Grant (Michael B. Jordan) a young 22 year old in Oakland, California who is just trying to find a stable job while making his girlfriend, mom, and most importantly daughter happy and give them the life they deserve. Oscar may not be perfect and has a troubled past, but he is trying to get his life back together and have an optimistic future. On the night of New Years Eve 2009, Oscar heads out with his girlfriend to enjoy the night and party in the new year. As they try to head back home, Oscar comes face to face with people from his past and one thing leads to another putting him and his future at risk.

For a first feature film, Ryan Coogler knocks this one straight out of the park. As the writer and director, you can tell he has full control over this film and boy I can tell you that I cannot wait to see what else he has in store for the world of cinema. Here he takes a very gritty and realistic shooting style of filmmaking with hand held cameras and a documentary style of shooting. I think it works well here and while the cinematography may take a back seat for this feature, it is totally worth it to let theses characters dominate the film. That said I enjoyed the ever looming dominance of the subway train sprinkled throughout the picture. At the heart of Fruitvale is Oscar and his family and wow is it a powerful ride to watch. The first two acts of this film revolve around Oscar and his life following his interactions with his family and his past. It is without a doubt thanks to Michael B. Jordan to making this film so powerful. He breathes so much reality into his character that you forget your watching a film at times. I applaud Coogler as well for portraying Oscar honestly and not covering up his past. The fact that Oscar is flawed makes him more powerful, we all can relate to a man trying to put his life back together.

Though he is not alone in this film, major praise goes to Octavia Spencer and Melonie Diaz. Octavia Spencer has slowly turned into one of my favorite actresses because she can pull at my heart strings and really get my tears going. Her portrayal as Oscar's mom is heartbreaking and brutal but an honest one. Let's hope she gets the credit she deserves when awards season comes around. I also loved seeing Melonie Diaz pull off her performance and glad to see more honest female characters in the movies. Also credit needs to go out to Ariana Neal who did a fantastic job as Tatiana and is another great example of child actors and actresses are continuously showing that they are just as good as the grown ups.

Though it goes without saying that the best part of this film is the ending. While the shooting itself is shot great, Coogler really shows off his skills as an emotional filmmaker through a few ways. One you can literally feel a thud in your heart when they pronounce Oscar is dead. What makes this so amazing is that we all know that its going to happen yet it still packs that punch. It is thanks to the wonderful story telling and connection we form with Oscar throughout the film. Two Coogler really makes sure that we don't forget the true victim in this shooting and that is Oscar's daughter Tatiana. Seeing her alone in the shower and asking where her daddy was is honestly one of the most heartbreaking experiences I have had in a movie theater. To go through the movie and see how hard Oscar works at being a good father and how much Tatiana means to him makes this impact more powerful. Even the simple things as giving his daughter and extra fruit snack at the beginning of the film is a great example of how to make his death stick with you as a viewer.

Coogler then finds a way to top even that by giving us real, documentary footage. We come to New Year's Day 2013 where people gather to remember Oscar and suddenly the whole film becomes way too real but in a good way. As the camera moves through the crowd and by friends we cut to one person. The real Tatiana. Wow. It is hard to express how just one image of a person standing alone can impact me as a viewer. It hit me like a ton a bricks and everything this film is trying to teach us and make us remember hits home. To look at the real daughter, to see the real victim, there is nothing  words can do to describe that impact. When the police shot Oscar that night they were shooting more than just a 22 year old African American, they were shooting a father; and more importantly a loving one.

4/4