“Fruitvale Station” won the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for drama at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. It depicts the real-life events involving Oscar Grant on New Year’s Eve 2008 and New Year’s Day 2009 in Oakland, CA. What happened sparked a tremendous amount of outrage and controversy, and the film currently has some Awards Season buzz.
Michael B. Jordan (“Chronicle”) portrays the 22-year-old Grant, who has a girlfriend Sophina (Melonie Diaz) and a four-year-old daughter with her named Tatiana. Oscar has had a history with the law, including time spent in prison and has recently been fired from his job at the supermarket. But the film portrays him as a nice guy, though somewhat lost and misguided. He’s looking to turn his life around. New Year’s Eve is also his mother’s birthday. Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer (“The Help”) plays Oscar’s mom Wanda.
Oscar and Sophina attend her family birthday party and then head downtown on the train to celebrate the New Year and watch fireworks. What unfolds next is dramatic, tragic and heartbreaking.
“Fruitvale Station” documents the true-life events quite well. The movie begins with footage of the pivotal event from the cell phone of a passenger on the train, which is stopped at the Fruitvale Station. The majority of rest of the film takes place during those 24 hours, though there are a few key flashback scenes.
The tone is raw and realistic, placing you right there with Oscar as everything unfolds. And even during the happy times of his day, mostly when playing with his daughter, it’s impossible to escape the feeling that something bad is coming. Director Ryan Coogler uses a lot of hand-held camera shots, including some that are a little too in-your-face. And some of the dialogue is a little forced early on. But these are minor complaints for an otherwise outstanding piece of work. The final 15 minutes (a large chunk since “Fruitvale Station” is under an hour and a half) are intense and emotional. And the performances are excellent, led by Jordan and Spencer. Chad Michael Murray (“One Tree Hill”) has a brief but prominent role late in the film.
“Fruitvale Station” is rated R for violence, including disturbing images, drug use, and language. It’s appropriate for mid-teens and up. While the events depicted in the movie did generate anger and protests Coogler does a nice job of simply telling the story, though it’s impossible not to be moved by actual photos of those involved at the end of the film.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “Fruitvale Station” gets a B+.