Fruitvale Station

Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Melonie Diaz, Octavia Spencer, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray, Ahna O'Reilly
Directed by: Ryan Coogler
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
2013

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: The true story of Oscar Grant (Michael B. Jordan) on the last day of his life.

Review:
Tim: Fruitvale Station is a very interesting film from Ryan Coogler, making his directorial debut. It follows Oscar Grant III, a very ordinary person who finds himself in horribly extraordinary circumstances on the last day of his life, in 2008. It is the true story of a guy who has a crazy run in with transit police in an encounter that leaves him dead. It is a shocking true story and I love that it was made into a movie. True story movies happen all the time, but they most often of celebrities or politicians. There is real value in depicting the life of ordinary people (as long as the story is interesting). The life, and most especially the death, of Oscar Grant III should not be forgotten. I am glad he will live on in people's mind through this film.

One thing I really enjoyed about this movie is how it depicted Grant. You could argue that it paints him in too favorably a light (and many people have). However, I disagree. I feel like this movie paints him in a complicated light- because real life is complicated. Grant certainly had some good things going for him- he seemed to be a kind man, someone who loved his family and was trying to do the right thing. He also had a rough past, spent time in jail, sold drugs, and wasn't afraid to fight. Both sides of him are depicted in this film. Yes, the movie works hard to make him sympathetic (the dog scene is especially notorious for doing this), but I don't think it made him out to be an angel. I walked away thinking he was not a saint, but not a devil, either. He was an ordinary human being, flawed and imperfect. One thing is certain, however- he did not deserve to die in the way he did.

The film starts out with actual footage of that fateful encounter at Fruitvale Station. This was a controversial decision, but I thought it was a good one. It makes the whole thing real. The footage is blurry and maddening, but right off the bat, we realize this actually happened. The truth of it smacks us in the face. The rest of the film leads this character to the point where we start. It's a pretty incredible journey.

The one aspect of this film you will hear the most about is undoubtedly Michael B. Jordan. Jordan has been a rising star, but this film took him into the next level. He gives a believable, complicated performance. I wasn't quite blown away by him, but I was impressed. It is sometimes hard to pull your eyes away from him on screen. He really never seemed like an actor- he seemed like this character, just a regular guy. That was very impressive. This movie is totally about him. He overshadows everything else. Octavia Spencer is fine, I liked the short performance of Kevin Durand. However, this movie belongs to Michael B. Jordan, and he does a great job.

Fruitvale Station is a very, very good movie, and in some ways, it's an important one. I highly recommend seeing it. And, while it is good, it falls short of greatness. Ryan Coogler has some talent as a director, but he is very inexperienced, with only a few short films under his belt. That inexperience shows here. There's a few scenes that felt a bit forced and the tone was off. The end of the film is powerful, but not nearly as powerful as it could have been. That prevents this film from achieving greatness. I felt like Coogler did a really good job, but he did not squeeze every ounce of quality out of this story that he could have- and that is why Fruitvale Station is a really good movie, but not a great one.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



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