Fruitvale Station. Written and directed by Ryan Coogler. Starring Michael B. Jordan and Octavia Spencer. Rating: 8 (out of 10)
I started writing my review of Fruitvale Station around the same time that news broke about 18-year-old Sammy Yatim, the sole occupant of a Toronto streetcar, who was tasered then shot nine times by police.
If you don't already know the outcome of the events in Ryan Coogler's Fruitvale Station, stop reading now. But San Francisco residents certainly haven't forgotten how a few hours into 2009, unarmed Oscar Grant III was pulled from a railcar and then gunned down by Bay Area Rapid Transit police as he was handcuffed, facedown, on the station platform.
Cellphones captured both of these shootings, bearing witness to excessive force (at the very least). Fruitvale Station won the grand jury prize and the audience award at this year's Sundance Film Festival, but the recent verdict in the shooting of Trayvon Martin is sure to generate additional interest.
Oscar (Michael B. Jordan) is trying to make things right with his girlfriend Sophina (Melonie Diaz), and to stay out of trouble for the sake of their daughter (Ariana Neal). It's New Year's Eve, rent is due, and Oscar's sister needs money, too. But instead of peddling his last bag of weed, he dumps it in the ocean, vowing never to go back to prison.
A flashback to his days in lockup shows a visit between Oscar and his mom (Octavia Spencer). She gives him an ultimatum. It's her last visit. It's the film's best and most genuinely affecting scene.
Elsewhere we are told how to feel, because other than playing his music a little loudly Oscar is ideal: he calls and texts his mom, idolizes his daughter, he helps strangers and strays alike. He even calls his grandma to help a total stranger out with a fish-fry recipe.
The Grant family's ties are evident at New Year's Eve dinner, which also happens to be mom's birthday. Dinner starts with prayer before granny's famous gumbo, and ends with Oscar's mom suggesting that he take the train into town instead of the car. It's a fatal mistake.
The film is heartbreak from beginning to end. The opening features actual cellphone video footage of the shooting. And later, officers won't let Sophina ride in the ambulance, nor will doctors allow mom into the room with Oscar's body, his death having been ruled a homicide.
It's a confident debut from Ryan Coogler, who uses jerky camerawork to keep viewers slightly off balance. Oscar's mundane day is fraught with anticipation because we know the end from the start. The ominous lack of soundtrack just underscores the dread.
Michael B. Jordan (The Wire, Friday Night Lights) gives a compelling performance, taking the real Oscar Grant from national symbol of victimhood, violence and race, and giving him his due. Melonie Diaz is very good as Oscar's girlfriend. But it is Octavia Spencer's name that will be passed around at awards time, for her grounded and touching performance.
Watch the film to find out how it all ends, and decide for yourself whether justice was served. On this side of the border, for the Yatim family, the search for answers is just beginning.
