Fruitvale Station Review: A poignant final day in the life of a young black male

Dir. Ryan Coogler
90 Minutes
Rated R
Watch Trailer

Fruitvale Station, from first-time feature director Ryan Coogler, not only swept up both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, but earned Coogler the "Best First Film" award at Cannes.  The movie retells the tragic events on New Year's Eve 2009, which ultimately led to the untimely death of a 22 year-old Oscar Grant at the hands of a police officer at the BART train station in Oakland, California.  Taking a cue from "one day" films like Do The Right Thing and Gus Van Sant's Elephant, it all takes place within the 24 hours before his death - which ironically happens on the cusp of a new year and his mother's birthday. The story mostly focuses on Oscar as a human being, living life with all his flaws.  The results to me were especially effecting considering the ridiculously good timing with the whole Trayvon Martin incident; it's a story that will leave you with a powerful understanding of how unfair the world can be.  Damn trigger-happy cops!


What immediately came to my mind with this film was Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler.  In both, we follow the protagonist almost too closely at times.  Oscar is not portrayed as a down-and-dirty criminal, nor is he elevated to the status of a saint; he has faults, most of which, arguably, stem from environmental and societal issues.  The film (along with a solid performance from Michael B. Jordan) does a great job of not shying away from the negative aspects of the character while still making us care about him.  Its pace will surely be a test for some audiences (one scene with Oscar driving to music was particularly "deliberate"), but every incident in the film, no matter how minor, adds to the meaning of the climax.  One of my favorite scenes of the film - besides the eventual shooting - is when Oscar happens across a stray dog at a gas station.  The dog, an innocent collar-less pit bull, is run over by a car.  Oscar then rushes over to cradle the dog in its final moments, screaming for help that never shows up.  This scene, with no real relevance to the rest of the plot, is filled with meaning.  The dog, like Oscar, could not enter the world alone, without succumbing to violence.  Like a dog being hit by a reckless driver, the climactic train station scene is not played politically or racially, but as an inevitable accident of the world we live in.

If it weren't for the slow pace, especially towards the beginning of the film, I would give it a higher rating (for a 90 minute film, it felt a lot longer).  But if you're tired of all these big summer blockbusters that give you nothing to chew on after the movie besides thinking 'well, that looked expensive...' watch this extremely well crafted, ridiculously timely character piece.  And I'm calling it now: Octavia Spencer, who plays Oscar's mom in the film, gets nominated for Supporting Actress come Oscar-time.  Almost made me cry.

Rating: B+


Bonus - Related Internet Video

Here's an actual news report of the incident on the Oakland BART station shooting from 2009.