If Beale Street Could Talk

Starring: KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, Teyonah Parris, Colman Domingo, Aunjanae Ellis, Michael Beach, Diego Luna, Ed Skrein, Brian Tyree Henry, Dave Franco, Pedro Pascal
Directed by: Barry Jenkins
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Romance
2018

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A young woman (KiKi Layne) struggles to cope with her family and her pregnancy after her boyfriend (Stephan James) goes to jail for a rape they believe he did not commit.

Review:

Tim: I was looking forward to If Beale Street Could Talk. It was one of the last big "award worthy" movies of 2018 that I needed to see. Barry Jenkins' Moonlight was an exceptional, incredible film and I was intrigued to see what he did with this 3-time Academy Award nominee film that won Best Supporting Actress. It would be disingenuous of me not to say that I was slightly disappointed with the film. Make no mistake, this is a good movie. However, it's a far cry from Moonlight and I'm not sure it deserved its Academy Award win. I'm not trying to suggest this isn't a good movie- it is. I do believe that it is overrated.

I haven't read the source material, but I imagine the novel is quite good. I've heard great things about it. It feels like something was lost in translation to the big screen. The movie isn't nearly as compelling as it needed to be. It offers up a story of tragic injustice, but it didn't pack the emotional punch that it should have. Moonlight left me reeling, while this film barely scored a glancing blow. We've seen movies like this many times before and I don't believe this film did enough to differentiate itself. The film is two hours long and it was at times difficult for me to get through. The first half of the movie felt much stronger than the second. I was interested and intrigued, but my attention began to wane as we approached the latter half of the film. Jenkins doesn't do enough to capture and hold our attention. By the end of the movie, it was hard for me to remember what I liked so much about the early scenes. This is a movie that feels like it loses its way and overstays its welcome.

I thought the cast was good, but probably overrated. KiKi Layne and Stephan James were both good in their roles, but neither was truly great. Outside of the scene of them in the street (which is on the posters and is probably the most lasting image of the film), I can't recall a whole lot of what they did. Their performances were never bad, but they weren't the kind of star-making performance that made me feel like I needed to remember their names or make an intentional effort to see what they did next. It's entirely possible they will become household names, but based on this film, that would surprise me. I think they put in a ton of effort, but their ceiling just felt lower than the truly great actors. I cared about the injustice they faced, I cared about the unfairness and racism that dogged these characters. But, I never truly loved them. It's been a few weeks since I watched the movie and I couldn't tell you their names. The performances of Layne and James weren't bad, but they never had the emotional punch they needed.

Continuing this theme, I'm shocked that Regina King won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. I was really glad she won and I was most eager about seeing her performance here. I honestly can't think of a single moment that made me think, "That's why she won." Was King good? Of course she was- Regina King is a talented, experienced actress. Was her performance great, was it worthy of winning an Academy Award? I don't believe it was. There was nothing especially powerful about her performance, nothing better than a hundred other performances we see in any given year. Contrast this with Mahershala Ali's small role in Moonlight. I couldn't stop thinking about his performance- even a few years later, Ali is still the most memorable thing about that movie for me. He absolutely deserved the Academy Award. King was good, but why did she deserve it? She doesn't get a lot of screen time and is only "good" when she is on screen. It's really baffling to me that she won, and I do like her.

It's somewhat damning that the best performances weren't among the leads. I thought Brian Tyree Henry was exceptionally strong in his scene. Dave Franco was excellent and Diego Luna was really good, too. I think about those actors and their roles far more than I think about Layne and James. That is problematic.

On a positive note, this film does serve as another reminder about the immoral, unethical and criminal acts that have been perpetuated against minorities throughout the history of this country. This movie takes place in the 1970s, but the themes are still (sadly) relevant today. It's always good for audiences to remember the miscarriages of justice that have taken place and still take place on a daily basis. I loved that this movie reminded us of that by focusing on individual lives and the personal toll racism and injustice takes. That's the biggest legacy of this movie. I did think the scene where Layne's character's family tells James' character's family about the pregnancy was the highlight of the film. It was exceptional in every sense and it's the one scene that most vividly sticks out in my mind.

If Beale Street Could Talk is a good movie. It just felt that compared to many similar movies, this one never came together as well as some of the best ones. Jenkins is capable of more, as we saw two years ago. So, we should celebrate this movie because it's a solid film, even as we acknowledge it really should have been better.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Moonlight, BlacKkKlansman