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Powerful

Fantastic!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I remember this one receiving critical acclaim at the time of its release, but somehow it just kind of sailed right by me. Although it wasn't something I anticipated watching, I am grateful that I eventually decided to watch it.This is based on a true story, so for those who are interested in the story-line have at least an idea of what unfolds within the final hours of the main character.It is roughly in the span of twenty-four hours on New Year's Eve in 2008. It takes us through the day of Oscar Grant, played by Michael B. Jordan in Oakland, California. I have not heard anything about this story at the time it happened.Even though I've heard of him, I have not seen anything Michael B. Jordan has been in besides this. Stating the obvious, he carries this film being such a winsome character...to me, anyway.He is a bit of a troubled character, however is not one to easily dismiss. He's complex, therefore compelling. The journey was worth it with him every step of the way. The whole scene at the metro station is intense...more intense than I anticipated. I wasn't sure it would be that involved! I took it hard a little bit. Did not think it would elicit such a reaction from me.Octavia Spencer is magnificent as well. This is such a good film.

It's hard to believe eight years after the death of Oscar Grant III at the hands of police on New Year's Day 2009 that things have only gotten worse. At the time of its release in 2013, "Fruitvale Station" colored the trial of George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin, for which there was no conviction. Then came unrest in Ferguson, Missouri over the fatal shooting of Michael Brown and an ever-growing list of names: Eric Garner, Laquan McDonald, Alton Sterling – "Fruitvale Station" will be a relevant film for a long time.Like Grant, writer and director Ryan Coogler is a black man from Oakland. In fact, they were the same age when Grant was shot and killed while lying face down at the Fruitvale BART station. That's enough information to understand why Coogler made this film, but it's the way he tells Grant's story, among all the available options, that stands out and contributes something meaningful to the conversation of Grant's death – and life.Coogler's film is a dramatic retelling of the day leading up to the incident and its immediate aftermath. Most notably, about 60 of the film's 85 minutes take place before anything bad happens. Coogler does not want to focus on the minutiae of the events that took place at Fruitvale Station, nor the ensuing trial that trivialized every detail. He wants to focus on Grant's humanity and life, and how in a quick moment, it was snatched from him.Just in case any viewer comes in completely unaware, the film begins with actual cell phone footage of the incident. This looms heavy throughout the film, forcing us to constantly reckon with the knowledge that the man we see (played by Michael B. Jordan) will die. This puts a microscope on Coogler's screenplay, not only factually speaking, but why he shows us what he shows us.In that first hour, we meet Grant's girlfriend, Sophina (Melonie Diaz) and 4-year-old daughter, Tatiana, as well as other members of his family gathered to celebrate his mother's (Octavia Spencer) birthday. We watch him talk about the future with Sophina, play with Tatiana, try to get his grocery store job back, help a few strangers, and rendezvous with a drug dealer.Some of the scenes and interactions are a bit overly opportune given Grant's fate, but by and large we get a portrait of a complicated young man. Coogler makes a concerted effort to show us Grant's redeeming qualities and emphasizes accounts from loved ones suggesting he was trying to turn his life around, but at the same time he doesn't exclusively cast him in a favorable light. We get a flashback to his jail time, Sophina confronts him about a past affair, he's clearly still involved with drugs and he has a temper that sometimes leads him to be pushy and confrontational. All this to say, no matter which way the scales tip, when he ends up on the Fruitvale platform, "deserving" has nothing to do with it.The platform sequence, after all that buildup, is a riveting piece of filmmaking. Coogler edits together two perspectives, that of Grant and his friends' and that of the witnesses, in a few frantic, pulse-pounding minutes. Regardless of how Grant and his friends are portrayed and how the BART cops are portrayed, the escalation of events feels unbelievable and unfounded. It should never have happened, and yet so many must suffer the consequences."Fruitvale" profoundly crystallizes some of the reasons these tensions escalate and reminds us of the human, emotional impact these incidents have, regardless of the "character" of those involved and any race-related factors. Although no storyteller can be completely objective in interpreting events and facts around a sensitive case, Coogler's film doesn't make any arguments or attack racial injustice, but it does give all of us a reminder and a reason to make sure no one else has to die under similar circumstances.~Steven CThanks for reading! Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more

This film I know hit theaters a while back and became a big deal during the Trayvon Martin trial that had happened, but even without that this film works. Watching this film a while after the event took place has really showed what Ryan Coogler can do as a director. I had no idea this was based on a true story and yet even despite that this film works so well for me. Even without knowing the ending the movie still sets the tone right of what it is like to live in a black neighborhood filled with police everywhere on the streets and black men being gunned down all the time. It really makes the impact the film desires to give much more inspiring and powerful as well as we see what leads up to the event taking place and how the event as a whole ends up going down either way. Just seeing what our main character does in his daily life is very compelling and intriguing to me. It makes you grow attached to him. It also doesn't run away from his flaws and shows he isn't a perfect character who does the right thing all the time, but it doesn't make the events that happen to him any less wrong or immoral. Ryan Coogler is great and deserves a lot of praise for this film. He has down a great job directing it.

IMDb description of this title,"The story of Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident, who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family, and strangers on the last day of 2008"If you are going to watch this movie after reading this description, believing that this movie is gonna be like some drama, suspense or thriller like that...please don't watch it.The movie is much about characters personal life rather than actual incident & this is what makes me disappoint. Direction was good, at many places it touches to reality. But apart from that i don't know what director was trying to focus..is it character or is it incident ??