Fruitvale Station

So this is the last of my Netflix list that I wish I could say was just movies I put on there during 2016... but that wouldn't be true so instead I'm calling it the Great Netflix Purge, and besides some documentaries, this is the last film on that list.

And man was that a great film to end that Purge on.

Fruitvale Station is the story in 2009 when a young man by the name of Oscar Grant III (played by Michael B Jordan) was shot and killed by police at a subway station in Oakland California. Now you may ask if that's a spoiler of the end of the film but the truth is it's not. The cell phone and camera footage of the act is actually shown at the beginning of the film and you spend the entire film knowing that this event is going to happen near the end of the film. However, the movie really doesn't focus on that until the last 15 minutes of the movie and the entire film is actually the day and the events leading up to the shooting on New Years Day, 2009.

Now if you're done thinking that that was a spoiler and instead the premise of this movie actually sounds a little bit dull, I think you'll be very surprised if you go and watch Fruitvale Station.

I didn't know too much about the case and I purposely decided to not do any research prior to watching this film because I just wanted to experience the film.

And I'll kind of agree with the idea that this premise doesn't exactly sound that interesting, especially if you know that it's pretty much Oscar Grant going through the day before he is shot later that night. But again, you will be very surprised if you go and watch Fruitvale Station.

The film is directed by Ryan Cogler who would eventually work with Jordan on Creed in 2015. Having watched Creed first and hearing all the praise of this film prior to watching it, I knew I was in for something at least with a lot of talent attached.

Somehow, Cogler is able to make a really interesting story with about the same amount of substance that Boyhood had. And if you know my thoughts on Boyhood, that's saying something cause Boyhood was not good.

While Fruitvale definitely has more substance than Boyhood and is telling a story more about a guy with a checkered past just trying to make ends meet and do right by his family, there are moments in this film that are just him living his life. They don't really build to anything, they're just him hanging out with his family, or hanging out with his family. Which makes the film a little bit tense, especially when you see the result at the beginning and know that it's going to happen.

I can't say that I think it would have been better not to know what happened to him at the beginning but I do think it would be a different movie.

There is a lot of foreshadowing in this film and a lot of stuff people say that really makes the movie pretty tragic when you keep on thinking back to the fact that this all ends horribly. In fact everything in this film keeps reminding you that this guy is not going to make it out at the end of this film and it becomes harder and harder as you get attached to him.

Now I'm wondering what it would have been like to just see the events of the movie unfold and be surprised by the ending but that's not how Cogler wanted it to go down.

I'm going to talk about the performance of Octavia Spencer because it does really tie into what I was saying about the effect of the movie knowing that Grant dies at the end of the film.

Octavia Spencer is a really good actress. She has been in a lot of films and every time I see her, she always seems to be bringing a pretty great performance, and this doesn't change in Fruitvale Station.

She plays Wanda Johnson, Grant's mother and she gives a really great performance as a mother who is trying to support her son but based on his history, he's hard to trust. However, you still get a pretty great supportive character who loves her son regardless and again, it all ties into the fact that you start to see this as a turning point for Oscar's life that never truly gets realized.

Even when the event happens, Spencer gives a very nuanced performance as she doesn't break down until the very end. She keeps her composure until the very end and then you see it happen and its heartbreaking.

However, the reason I wanted to talk about Octavia Spencer before everyone else was because her performance is undercut ever so slightly by the fact that you kind of guess how she's going to to respond and how she's going to react when she figures out her son is dead. I won't give it away because it might work for you, but for me it didn't work as well because I knew exactly how the conversation was going to happen because there is such strong foreshadowing in this film instead of letting the emotions kind of speak for themselves.

This movie really wouldn't be as great as it is if it weren't for the performance of Michael B Jordan. I can't help but love every character this guy plays and Fruitvale Station is really not any different. I really like the collaboration of him and Ryan Cogler and I'm glad that it started in this film.

Jordan plays a really compelling character in this film. While a lot of it is the way that the character is written, I really enjoyed Jordan's performance in this film. I appreciated that the movie didn't try and paint Grant as some kind of saint or a guy that could do no wrong. The movie is very apparent about the guy's flaws and the things that get him riled up or making him lose his composure and perhaps would make you think that he's not a good guy or perhaps makes you think there was something more to the incident than others would make you believe. The movie by no means makes the argument that Grant was at fault for getting shot and if you read into the case, it really doesn't seem like he did anything to warrant getting shot, however Jordan does create a fiery character who can be brash at times, so much that it could start an altercation like the one in 2009.

However, the film does have a subtle message and one last ingredient to add to the pot to make it overflow and that was Grant's skin color.

Here's the thing I love about Fruitvale Station.

In Crash, race was such a huge part of the story and the movie hit you over the head with the messages about racial prejudice and innate racism so hard that it was almost off putting.

In Fruitvale Station, Grant's race is barely mentioned at all and the movie lets the audience feel the impact of the event instead of telling you. Fruitvale and Crash have similar themes but it is a great example of showing versus telling.

And I think the correct response to this film is what I did. Even before the movie was done, I jumped on the internet and started doing the research I put off prior to watching the film.

I'll be honest, whenever there is a shooting like this, I hold off on passing judgement until all the facts are out. I try and weigh both sides and decide how I feel based on evidence while trying to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Fruitvale Station has a pretty distinct message and definitely falls on one side of the argument when it comes to the shooting of Oscar Grant, but what I appreciate about the film is that while it does have that viewpoint, it still allows the audience to come to conclusions on their own and tells the fair side of the story from the viewpoint of a guy who was seemingly trying to get his life back on track.

The other interesting thing about this film is the length of it. This movie is really only about 85 minutes and it's not really a long watch. If you've read my reviews before you know that I always take "Based on a True Story" with a grain of salt. Any story like that takes liberties for the sake of dramatic tension and story.

But Fruitvale is just a very quick story and it doesn't feel like a lot of it is embellishment. It feels quick, down to the point, and in that, it remains a powerful film.

Were liberties taken? I'm sure there were. But it lays out Grant's side of the story and I'm sure they tried to make the story as true to actual events as they probably could. The point is, its done well and it should make you think, regardless of what you think of the case.

Now the case of Oscar Grant is a special case because of the results of the trial that happened afterward. If the verdict for the police officer who did the shooting had been different, I'm not totally sure what this film would have been like.

But as is, it's a really strong film with some really great performances and a just subtle enough message that I enjoyed the film and it made me think. The one problem I have with the film is the overt foreshadowing and the way that foreshadowing kind of gets in the way of the story and the emotion. But overall, if you haven't checked out Fruitvale Station, do it now!

But what about you? What did you think of Fruitvale Station? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @cmhaugen24 as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. My old Netflix list is cleared out and I need suggestions for films I should put on it now and do a review on. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.