Black Panther

Creed

Fantastic Four

Fruitvale Station

Directed by Ryan Coogler.

2013. Rated R, 85 minutes. 

Cast: 

Michael B. Jordan 

Melonie Diaz 

OctaviaSpencer 

Ahna O'Reilly 

Kevin Durand 

Ariana Neal 

Chad Michael Murray

During the first few hours of New Years' Day, 2009, 22 year old Oscar Grant (Jordan) was shot and killed by a police officer in the middle of a crowded train station. Of course, people captured the incident on their cell phones. Don't worry, I'm not spoiling anything. This is where the movie starts and it is based on a true story. From that opening, we then recount Oscar's final day. We find out quickly that he lives with his girlfriend Sophina (Diaz) and their daughter Tatianna (Neal). Things aren't going according to plan. He tries to rectify the situation while not letting his family or anyone else know the struggles he's going through. This is in addition to the rough stretch of water he and Sophina are currently sailing together because of his infidelity. Walking a mile in Oscar's shoes ensues.

As portrayed by Jordan, Oscar is a guy that immediately pulls you in. The draw is that he feels like a flesh and blood human being, not a movie character. He's generally a nice guy who has made some bad mistakes. We see him efforting to change his ways and his luck. This is no easy task. Doing things the way he's done them before will provide at least a temporary refuge from some of his troubles. The key word is temporary. Besides, he can no longer stand the effects of his choices on those he loves. Given that last bit of info, it's no surprise he's a doting father, as well. Like many of us dads, his little girl has him wrapped around her finger and there is no place he'd rather be than with her. He has fun with her every chance he gets. On top of all this, it's his own mother's birthday (Spencer) and he wants to make it a special day for her, too.

Just those things we see on the surface make Oscar a remarkably well-rounded character. What viewers may not realize is how brilliant it is to make him such. Let's go back to the beginning, or actually, to the end. This is a movie about a young black man killed by a white cop. In many films, whether based on fact or fiction, similarly doomed protagonists are given halos and wings as they walk the Earth. Their shortcomings are generally side effects of their greatness. Oscar is no hero. He is just dude trying to support his family. This endears him to us. He's been in jail and is comtemplating whether or not he should continue to sell weed. We don't necessarily like these things, but given what else we know of him, he's hardly some super-evil boogeyman drug dealer who would make us quiver in his presence. Just as important is the fact that all of his issues are his own. Neither he nor the movie tries to lay blame for his problems any further than his own feet. This is important to ensure that we are squarely in his corner. He is a man standing at the crossroads trying to decide on a path. We're entirely willing to stare at the options with him.

Something else that has us in Oscar's corner are the people in his life. Despite whatever he's put them through, it's obvious they love him. They want desperately for him to do well. More than that, they enjoy his company. They like having him around. To the movie's credit, these other people are also well represented. As Sophina, Melonie Diaz gives a completely natural performance. When she shifts gears in how she addresses Oscar, we understand. It feels like a conversation we may have had with our upset significant other. She raises her voice in anger, changes her tone in confusion, and brings it down a few octaves to show concern. Her facial expressions all work, too. On the other hand, the looks she gives Oscar have nothing on the contortions Octavia Spencer does with her face as Oscar's mom. Every one of them conveys much more than the words she speaks. As good as she was in her Academy Award winning performance from The Help, it was a role that lapsed into caricature. There are no such issues, here. For my money, this is her better work.

The most unfortunate aspect of Fruitvale Station, aside from Oscar's death, is that it tackles a still relevant topic. At the very least, what happens to Oscar is an abuse of power and a gross over-reaction to a situation that could have been handled a lot better. At worse, and certainly not out of the question it's an outright act of racism. Even if the officer who pulled the trigger would not normally be considered a racist in his day-to-day dealings with people of color, what he does is quite possibly a reaction to fear stirred by the cumulative effect of a few centuries' worth of stereotypes rushing to mind in the heat of the moment. If he is a racist, well, that doesn't need any of my dime-store analysis. For that officer, there are no right answers. The other cops present may not find much good in their own actions, either. Instead of diffusing it, they exacerbated the situation, creating an unmanageable frenzy. Something bad was bound to happen.

Red Tails

Directed by Anthony Hemingway.

2012. Rated PG, 125 minutes.

Cast:

Terrence Howard

Cuba Gooding Jr.

Nate Parker

David Oyelowo

Tristan Wilds

Michael B. Jordan

Ne-Yo

Marcus T. Paulk

Leslie Odom Jr.

Andre Royo

Bryan Cranston

Method Man

World War II marked the first time in American history that units of black soldiers were put on the front lines against a foreign enemy. Eventually, this would include a unit of fighter pilots. Some credit for this is due to the simple necessities of winning a war. However, it’s still a near-miraculous achievement given the climate of our country at the time. As the quote that appears at the beginning of Red Tails tells us, blacks were thought to be genetically deficient in the areas of intelligence and courage with not enough of the former to fly a plane and not enough of the latter for any facet of war. Of course, this ignores the fact that all-black units fought 80 years earlier in The Civil War (see Glory). Then again, racism often ignores logic. How ridiculous is it that the military so purposefully segregated itself that thousands of its members practically had to beg to fight for their country even though they all signed up with the knowledge that dying in the line of duty is a distinct possibility.

To prove the theory of white superiority, the U.S. government commissioned a sociological study. A number of students from the all-black Tuskegee University were sent through the same rigorous testing and training hopeful white pilots underwent. The hypothesis going in was that all of these guys would wash out, thus proving the inferiority of the black race. After all, if the cream of the crop couldn’t rise to the occasion who would? Of course, many Tuskegee kids successfully completed the program. They were then maligned to their little squadron, the 332nd, and charged with flying practically meaningless patrols hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away from the action. They were bored and itching to prove themselves. This is where Red Tails picks up.

Pretty quickly, we meet our cast of would-be heroes. There’s the curmudgeonly old leader Major Stance (Gooding Jr.), the reserved squad leader Easy (Parker), we’re going with nicknames here, the talented but rambunctious loose cannon Lightning (Oyelowo), the super-southern hillbilly Smokey (Ne-Yo) and an assortment of other stock characters. These are all fun folks, but lack any sort of depth. They are personas already fully formed by whatever baggage they with them into the Tuskegee. The things they go through during our time with them is mostly generic stuff recycled from too many movies. What should be a collection of truly compelling men is reduced to a group of clichés in blackface. Only their leader, the crusading Colonel Bullard (Howard) escapes this fate. However, his screen-time is severely limited.

It would have helped if the movie had picked up earlier in the proceedings. By not seeing them go through the training program, we never get a real sense of their struggle. An old adage of storytelling is that it’s better to show than tell. RT would be a much more effective film if it had shown us what these people went through rather than just mentioning it once or twice. This means the audience is left to draw on whatever their own knowledge and opinions about race relations in America both now and during the first half of the 20th century. Therefore, how we feel about the characters is open to a broad range of interpretations from raging militant support to disinterested apathy. We’re left with something that should be, but is not more than an action flick about fighter pilots.

In fact, RT hangs its hat on the action sequences. They are beautifully shot and exciting. Planes get shot down, crash and burn pretty good. The same goes for trains, ships and even an entire base. Mid-battle banter between our heroes is cheesy, but in an entertaining way. It gives us a few chuckles to go with the violent eye-candy. These scenes come at a fast enough rate that even though the movie doesn’t connect with us the way it wants to, it doesn’t bore us, either.

For what it actually is, RT really isn’t that bad. Sure, it feels like rehashed material but the guys are pleasant enough to root for and those “dog fights” are excellent. It’s light, forgettable fare that zips by like one of the Germans’ (then) new-fangled jet planes.

Unfortunately, because of the subject it chooses to tackle, we have to judge this particular film on what it is not. RT is not a gripping historical drama. It offers very little perspective, if any, on what these men meant to their country or race. I fear its shortcomings as a potential teacher are behind the extremely negative reviews. While certainly not a great movie, it isn’t the scourge of cinema it’s made out to be. Though, to be fair, HBO made a better movie on the same subject, The Tuskegee Airmen (1995), in which (a much younger) Cuba Gooding Jr also appears. I encourage you to seek out that one. It will give you a better feel for what these men went through. RT is just sorta fun.

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