Tag Archives: true story

Fruitvale Station

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fruitvale

Director: Ryan Coogler

Writer: Ryan Coogler

Starring:  Michael B. Jordan, Melonie Diaz, Octavio Spencer

Tomatometer: 92/90/87 (all critics, top critics, audience)

Spoiler-free Summary: Oscar is a 22-year-old African American man living in Oakland.  He’s got a girlfriend, a daughter, and a criminal record.  Oscar lost his job, so he’s back to selling drugs, but he’s doing his best to become a better husband, father, and man.  He’s really just some guy.  Unfortunately, for a black man, that’s a problem.

Two Cents: There are good movies, there are bad movies, and there are important movies.  Important movies are the ones that tell stories that are difficult to tell, stories that don’t lend themselves to entertainment, stories to which most people would rather turn a blind eye.  Making an important movie takes guts, determination, and investors with no expectation of a return.  It takes a whole lot more than that to make an important movie a really good one, too.  

Fruitvale Station is the true story of Oscar Juliuss Grant, III, a young black man who was the victim of police brutality.  Thanks to social media, his story became a national headline.  This is not a horror film, yet it is most definitely horrifying.  Ryan Coogler (27), in his first feature-length film, does a masterful job of representing Grant as a real and regular person.  By depicting Oscar in many mundane and unspectacular situations, Coogler forces the viewer to root for Oscar, not because he’s special, but because he’s (in many ways) the everyman.  He’s remarkably unremarkable.

Of course, there will be questions about whether Grant really was the person he’s made out to be in this film, and that’s understandable.  I don’t know the answer, and I don’t think it matters.  Police brutality and intolerance are important issues, and this is just one situation that involved both.  It wasn’t the first, nor was it the last.  It probably wasn’t even the first or last on that day, within a two-block radius.

I’m not a political commentator, and this isn’t a political blog.  Still, whether you fall on one side of the discussion or the other, this is a movie that needs to be seen.  Kudos to Coogler and his collaborators for bringing it to life.

Although Grant is the real story here, I can’t understate the power of Michael B. Jordan’s performance.  This young actor is making all the right moves.  He has yet to be less than awesome in any role.  Octavia Spencer is a true pro, and Melonie Diaz continues to build a terrific résumé as a talented character actress.  This film has already won awards at Sundance and Cannes, and I expect it to wrap up a few more before the post-2013 awards season comes to a close.

Should I/Shouldn’t I: Go to a theater, wait for the DVD, or order it on demand – it makes no difference.  Just make sure you see Fruitvale Station.  

Sundae Rating: Two scoops with whipped cream and hot fudge

Pain & Gain

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pain gain pic

Director: Michael Bay

Writer: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, Pete Collins (based on magazine articles by)

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, The Rock, Anthony Mackie, Tony Shalhoub, Ed Harris, Rob Corddry

Tomatometer: 48/49/61 (all critics, top critics, audience)

Spoiler-free Summary: Mark Wahlberg, a body-building fitness fanatic, develops an obsession with being a “doer”.  Unfortunately for Mark, his idea of being a doer involves kidnapping and robbing millionaires.  In hopes of completing his self-assigned mission, Marky Mark recruits a team of less-than-intelligent sidekicks, including Anthony Mackie, The Rock, and an objectively attractive performance artist.  Okay, she’s a smokin’ hot build-a-stripper.

Two Cents: In the words of a late-night talk show host after Nate Ruess’s band performs on his show: That was fun.  These days, few people truly stand for something.  Sure, Barack Obama stands for healthcare reform, and Justin Bieber stands for high-top sneakers, but no one stands for anything the way Michael Bay stands for mindless fun.  No, his movies haven’t been legitimately good since The Rock, but it’s scientifically impossible to walk out of a Michael Bay movie without a smile and a desire to blow something the hell up.

Pain & Gain is a true story, but you won’t believe it.  In fact, during one of the more entertaining sequences in the movie, Bay quickly pauses the action in order to remind the audience that the story is, in fact, a true one.

Mark Wahlberg is a pretty decent actor, but there was no need for him to show off his acting skills in this movie.  All he had to bring was his glistening pair of guns.  If you were wondering why Mark’s sleeves were holding on for dear life at the Oscars, now, you know why.  As the leader of the Sun Gym Gang, Mark does a masterful job of combining of brazenness, stupidity, and taking oneself way too seriously.

Anthony Mackie is dependable, as always, and The Rock is FINALLY doing exactly what he was born to do.  The Schwarzeneggerness of the three main actors is as awesome as awesome gets.  The Rock is so physically perfect, I am 83% certain that he had his old football pads implanted beneath his skin.  If I didn’t firmly believe that anyone using it deserves a punch square in the face, I would be tempted to use the word  “ridonculous” to describe The Rock’s arms and chest.

Rob Corddry, Ed Harris, Rebel Wilson, and Ken Jeong do a nice job filling out the supporting roles, but Tony Shalhoub is quite surprising.  After three dozen seasons of Monk, which were viewed by seven people, Shalhoub built a persona of being kind and awkward.  In this movie, however, he gets downright repulsive as the Sun Gym Gang’s first target.  Tony’s philosophical discussions with His Rockness are particularly entertaining.

Should I/Shouldn’t I: Take off your fedora, your indoor scarf, your summer-only winter hat, and your bow tie and sit your ass in a movie theater.  If you have the ability to admit that you like to be entertained in a non-ironic way, then you should see Pain & Gain.  It’s not a good movie.  It’s just not.  Still, the story is remarkable, and the movie is a Paula Dean-sized helping of fun.  Do you like muscles?  Do you like laughing at stupid people?  Do you like comedy?  Do you like hot strippers who have no logical place in a story, but manage to pop up quite often, anyway? Of course, you do!  Personally, I only like that stuff ironically, but that’s only because I’m cooler than you are.

Sundae Rating: Two scoops