Dear Readers,
My friend Dizzie and I recently watched a film titled, Fruitvale Station.
It was really good, wasn't it, Diz?
Diz: Yep.
We saw it from the comfort of my sofa.
Lilly Faye: It's the real-life story of a young man named Oscar Grant, who was shot in San Francisco's BART station in the wee small hours of New Year's Day 2009.
Oscar isn't perfect, but he's trying hard to improve his life. Almost everybody can relate to that.
The film is a well-balanced look at what happened and why. It portrays the shooting as a tragedy for everyone involved, for Oscar and his family and friends of course, but also for the Bay Area Rapid Transit Police, and the entire community.
Michael B. Jordan plays Oscar. It's his first lead role in a movie, but you might have seen him in Friday Night Lights on TV. He is a very charismatic actor, and he really proves he has what it takes to be a leading man.
Octavia Spencer plays Oscar's mom. Octavia won an Academy Award for her role in The Help. Octavia is very believable. When she feels pain, the audience feels it, too.
Melonie Diaz plays Oscar's girlfriend and the mother of his little girl. Melonie had lots of little roles before this movie, but I predict there are plenty of big roles in her future.
Fruitvale Station is an Oscar-worthy effort, but sadly, it received no nominations. Maybe that's partly because Michael B. Jordan and the movie's writer-director, Ryan Coogler, are so young. Don't you agree, Diz?
Diz: That's right. When you're young, nobody wants to give you any credit. He's just a puppy, they say.
But the young see things with fresh eyes, and shouldn't be dismissed.
Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't warn you about one scene where something tragic happens to a dog. Normally that's a real turnoff for me, but I was okay with it in this movie, because it is sensitively handled and very brief, and it's not at all gratuitous.
Movie Rating: Two Paws Up!
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