If Beale Street Could Talk 2018
This movie got very positive reviews when it came out, but I never saw it. I was glad to be able to borrow a digital copy using a Screen Pass, but really knew nothing about the movie. It feels a lot like a student project that got stretched to feature length. It is way too long without much of a plot, although there is a strong story about a young couple and a man wrongfully imprisoned, bringing havoc to his family. That’s a good basis for a story, but there just needs to be more. Instead there are a few really clumsy scenes (a big family argument that is a little too dramatic) and a lot of artistically shot scenes of mundane life where nothing happens. Instead it seems like a lot of things are told through voiceover, which is rarely good. It is often a pretty movie and when called for there are some very good performances (Regina King won a Best Supporting Oscar as the woman’s mother), but things don’t always feel right. It starts by saying Beale Street is a street in New Orleans, which must be metaphorical (without any metaphorical context) because Beale Street is definitely in Memphis. There is another twist at the end that also feels wrong, which I will save for a spoiler. There will be a lot more stories about how the justice system is stacked against black people. Set around 1970, things were changing, but at a glacial pace, all the way up through today. There is certainly truth and pain here, but it feels like the director pushed that story to the background to show what a great job he could do with lighting, smoke, and music.
Written: 27 Jun 2021