Director: Ryan Coogler.
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Melonie Diaz, Octavia Spencer, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray, Ahna O’Reilly.
Certificate: 15.
Running Time: 85 minutes.
Synopsis: The purportedly true story of Oscar Grant III (Michael B. Jordan), a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008.
The tragedy that struck 22 year-old Oscar Grant III may not have made the same UK headlines as perhaps those involving Rodney King or more recently Trayvon Martin, but his name is still uttered in the same angry breath for those Stateside – and so it should. The young black man’s death at the hands of inept local police officers may have once again highlighted racial prejudices in American law enforcement, but it’s a story that must be told if there is to be any sense made of the crime.
For those not aware of the scandal that took place in the early hours of New Year’s Day 2009 at Fruitvale BART station in Oakland, California, Grant and a number of his friends were forced off the train by officers following a scuffle with a former acquaintance. Handcuffed and on the floor, many passengers subsequently captured the controversial events on their phones – events which would bring riots to the streets in the following days. It’s this footage that opens writer/director Ryan Coogler’s unforgettable FRUITVALE STATION and proceeds to look eerily back at the twenty-four hours building up to those harrowing actions.
Most certainly a haunting depiction of a man you immediately know is no longer with us, Michael B. Jordan once again shows us why he’s being touted as the next big thing in Hollywood. He brings compassion and humility to a performance that is in no way one-sided and doesn’t portray Grant as an angel. Apparently prone to sudden bursts of anger (amongst other troubles), was it his convict past colliding with an earlier good deed that became his ultimate undoing? His troubled past is seen in flashbacks, a young father desperate to get his life on the right track, and by doing so, landing in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s to Jordan’s credit he offers both sides to Grant’s personality, when Coogler could have quite easily painted him whiter than white.
The imposing presence of the oft-underrated Kevin Durand in a short, yet pivotal role is authentically threatening before turning conflicted in the realisation of what his cop colleague (Chad Michael Murray) does. Nearly stealing the limelight is Oscar winner Octavia Spencer, outstanding as Grant’s mother Wanda. Giving a powerful performance in the face of the difficult circumstances leading to her son’s death, she in part feels responsible, showing a range of emotions while trying to remain strong for her surviving family. Surely a must in the Best Supporting Oscar category come January? Never a more appropriately-named accolade.
As harsh as it sounds, there is little to enjoy about FRUITVALE STATION, yet it’s possibly one of the year’s most important works of cinematic art; an intimate portrait of the final hours of a man with so much to live for. From the outset you can almost sense each grain of sand slipping from a timer, or even an imaginary ticking clock counting down a film that really does come full circle. If it’s to do anything other than highlight Coogler and Jordan as a future force to be reckoned with in the film world, it should also remind us how precious life is and how we never know what’s around the corner – or the next train station.
[usr=4] FRUITVALE STATION is released in UK cinemas on Friday 6th June, 2014.
