DOUBLE REVIEW: LOVING & MOONLIGHT
Remember #OscarsSoWhite? Besides future directing winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu, there wasn't a single person of color in the major nominees of last year's Academy Awards. Idris Elba, the deserving winner of the Best Supporting Actor SAG, wasn't even nominated. So this year's Academy Awards have a lot of recovery to do, especially in the wake of the horrific racial violence and tensions that have plagued America and rocked the media all of 2016. So (unless the predominantly white male Academy is really set on alienating viewers) expect to see a lot more color amidst the nominees, with acclaimed films like Loving, Moonlight and Fences all predicting to steal Best Picture nominee slots. Over my Thanksgiving break, I was thankful to have watched the former two of those movies, both in part dealing with the African-American experience.
I'll start with Loving, because it literally hits close to home, in the Old Dominion! Three years ago I was lucky enough to attend the University of Mary Washington-hosted Q and A with Peggy Loving, the daughter of the titular family. She discussed her parents' fight to have their marriage recognized in the state of Virginia (old 'Ginny doesn't come off that great here) when their case was brought into the court. What's so fascinating about this movie is how surprisingly passive the Loving couple come across. In fact, besides Nick Kroll's determined lawyer, everyone seems to be stuck in a Zack Snyder action scene, which is to say this movie is slow.
I suppose this is probably how the Lovings actually were. Joel Edgerton, who gives a quiet, transformative performance as Richard, is portrayed as an obedient country boy, the type of man that'll hold the door for you but'd be too shy to say "you're welcome" after you thank him. He quietly takes negative, harmful language from his mother, his wife's family and the justice system, who all naturally want to see he and his wife Mildred (Ruth Negga) fail. Negga has the showier role here, which isn't saying a great deal. She's also very passive, but there's a gentle warmth to Mildred that Negga exudes with great ease; a motherly love and a devout devotion to her husband. Kroll is perfectly fine as the lawyer fighting for them, I'm afraid I just expected him to break out into one of his characters from his sketch show, but that's not his fault.
Overall, I would've loved to have seen more backstory on the Loving couple; how they fell in love, more time with the kids to show their dynamic, etc. We know that their love is unfaltering, but give us why! And director Jeff Nichols...I know Michael Shannon is your good luck charm, but DON'T WASTE HIM in a two-minute part! I felt like the part was much bigger and perhaps it was cut down to time limits, but Shannon was so charismatic as a Life photographer...and then he's gone! I expected a little more from the director of Mud, perhaps something a little less conventional, like the Lovings themselves.
Rating: 2.5/4 stars.
Read on to see my review for Moonlight, one of the best films I've seen this year!
Moonlight isn't the type of film you would ever expect to see in your local, mainstream movieplex, but there I was in Regal Cinema's smallest theater, watching Barry Jenkins' film about the life of a gay black man. While it doesn't aim for the scope that perhaps Richard Linklater's Boyhood achieved, Moonlight is a revelation in giving the spotlight to marginalized voices, and a poetic, touching drama that wouldn't dare be made by the Hollywood system, unless Denzel was the main character and the gay elements were cut.
Before I give the praise this film deserves, I found it a little problematic that my local Washington Post described this is as a "perfect film." No film made by human beings can be perfect, and those that come close are completely objective (in my opinion It's a Wonderful Life and Bonnie and Clyde toy with that adjective). The third chapter of the film stretches into watch-checking status at some points, and unfortunately Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney (the authors of the script) dip into the stock black character bank. There is a crackhead mother and a drug dealer with a heart of gold, and while McCraney and Jenkins do invert our expectations of these characters, they still exist. Since this clearly isn't the community that I grew up with, I obviously know these figures are present in black culture, and I'm sure that's what they're drawing on.
That said, the actors who play the aforementioned crackhead mother and gold-hearted drug dealer look poised to sweep the supporting categories in this year's Oscars. Mahershala Ali plays Juan, who spots our protagonist Chiron as he's chased by bullies into an abandoned trap house. He and his partner Teresa (played by Janelle Monáe in an encouraging live action film debut) take Chiron back and feed him, eventually becoming surrogate parents. But it turns out Juan has a deeper connection to Chiron than he thought.
The key word for Ali's performance here is warm. He's been picking up best supporting actor nods already through the circuits, and it's so well deserved and warranted. This man's put in a lot of work. You feel the deep love for Chiron he develops, the shame he feels in one particular scene. This is a caring man in what is shown as an uncaring world, we're all likely to meet a Juan. I hope I see Ali walk that stage to collect his prize. It was hard watching him as villain Cottonmouth in "Luke Cage," just because of how likable he is here and in "House of Cards." Expect great things from Mr. Ali.
Naomie Harris is devastating as Chiron's drug-addicted mother, Paula. We don't see her much (perhaps mirroring Chiron's limited exposure to her as well) and we never find out if the father was ever in the picture. But every scene she is in is a sock to the gut, though perhaps not as evil as Mo'Nique's portrayal of motherhood in Precious. When she screams at Juan "Do you wanna raise my child?" it's almost said as a plea, because she knows he'll be better in other hands. There's a scene with her and the third incarnation of her son that broke my heart more than anything I've seen this year.
Nothing is especially abnormal for Chiron, other than the heteronormative culture around him telling him he's a faggot. It's his search for normalcy, identity that we are taken on, through three chapters of his life, as a young boy, a teenager and an adult. Like Chiron, the movie is sensitive, and while the third chapter slows down, instead of Loving's purposefully slowed moments, this feels simply like a byproduct of the storytelling. It's tender, because love is tender, especially the kind Chiron receives, because he's not used to it. Kudos to the trio of actors, (Alex R. Hibbit, Ashton Sanders and Trevante Rhodes chronologically) for all maintaing the essence of this fully-realized character. It all culminates into this beauty of a movie where coming-of-age has never been harder, and society has all its chips stacked against you. It's about love and identity, and it's an absolute reason not to give up on the current state of movies.
Rating: 3.5/4 stars
I'll start with Loving, because it literally hits close to home, in the Old Dominion! Three years ago I was lucky enough to attend the University of Mary Washington-hosted Q and A with Peggy Loving, the daughter of the titular family. She discussed her parents' fight to have their marriage recognized in the state of Virginia (old 'Ginny doesn't come off that great here) when their case was brought into the court. What's so fascinating about this movie is how surprisingly passive the Loving couple come across. In fact, besides Nick Kroll's determined lawyer, everyone seems to be stuck in a Zack Snyder action scene, which is to say this movie is slow.
I suppose this is probably how the Lovings actually were. Joel Edgerton, who gives a quiet, transformative performance as Richard, is portrayed as an obedient country boy, the type of man that'll hold the door for you but'd be too shy to say "you're welcome" after you thank him. He quietly takes negative, harmful language from his mother, his wife's family and the justice system, who all naturally want to see he and his wife Mildred (Ruth Negga) fail. Negga has the showier role here, which isn't saying a great deal. She's also very passive, but there's a gentle warmth to Mildred that Negga exudes with great ease; a motherly love and a devout devotion to her husband. Kroll is perfectly fine as the lawyer fighting for them, I'm afraid I just expected him to break out into one of his characters from his sketch show, but that's not his fault.
Overall, I would've loved to have seen more backstory on the Loving couple; how they fell in love, more time with the kids to show their dynamic, etc. We know that their love is unfaltering, but give us why! And director Jeff Nichols...I know Michael Shannon is your good luck charm, but DON'T WASTE HIM in a two-minute part! I felt like the part was much bigger and perhaps it was cut down to time limits, but Shannon was so charismatic as a Life photographer...and then he's gone! I expected a little more from the director of Mud, perhaps something a little less conventional, like the Lovings themselves.
Rating: 2.5/4 stars.
Read on to see my review for Moonlight, one of the best films I've seen this year!
Moonlight isn't the type of film you would ever expect to see in your local, mainstream movieplex, but there I was in Regal Cinema's smallest theater, watching Barry Jenkins' film about the life of a gay black man. While it doesn't aim for the scope that perhaps Richard Linklater's Boyhood achieved, Moonlight is a revelation in giving the spotlight to marginalized voices, and a poetic, touching drama that wouldn't dare be made by the Hollywood system, unless Denzel was the main character and the gay elements were cut.
Before I give the praise this film deserves, I found it a little problematic that my local Washington Post described this is as a "perfect film." No film made by human beings can be perfect, and those that come close are completely objective (in my opinion It's a Wonderful Life and Bonnie and Clyde toy with that adjective). The third chapter of the film stretches into watch-checking status at some points, and unfortunately Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney (the authors of the script) dip into the stock black character bank. There is a crackhead mother and a drug dealer with a heart of gold, and while McCraney and Jenkins do invert our expectations of these characters, they still exist. Since this clearly isn't the community that I grew up with, I obviously know these figures are present in black culture, and I'm sure that's what they're drawing on.
That said, the actors who play the aforementioned crackhead mother and gold-hearted drug dealer look poised to sweep the supporting categories in this year's Oscars. Mahershala Ali plays Juan, who spots our protagonist Chiron as he's chased by bullies into an abandoned trap house. He and his partner Teresa (played by Janelle Monáe in an encouraging live action film debut) take Chiron back and feed him, eventually becoming surrogate parents. But it turns out Juan has a deeper connection to Chiron than he thought.
The key word for Ali's performance here is warm. He's been picking up best supporting actor nods already through the circuits, and it's so well deserved and warranted. This man's put in a lot of work. You feel the deep love for Chiron he develops, the shame he feels in one particular scene. This is a caring man in what is shown as an uncaring world, we're all likely to meet a Juan. I hope I see Ali walk that stage to collect his prize. It was hard watching him as villain Cottonmouth in "Luke Cage," just because of how likable he is here and in "House of Cards." Expect great things from Mr. Ali.Naomie Harris is devastating as Chiron's drug-addicted mother, Paula. We don't see her much (perhaps mirroring Chiron's limited exposure to her as well) and we never find out if the father was ever in the picture. But every scene she is in is a sock to the gut, though perhaps not as evil as Mo'Nique's portrayal of motherhood in Precious. When she screams at Juan "Do you wanna raise my child?" it's almost said as a plea, because she knows he'll be better in other hands. There's a scene with her and the third incarnation of her son that broke my heart more than anything I've seen this year.
Rating: 3.5/4 stars
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