IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (2018) – My rating: 8/10

If Beale Street Could Talk is a romantic drama directed and written by Barry Jenkins, based on James Baldwin’s 1969 novel of the same name. It follows a young African-American woman who, with her family’s support, seeks to clear the name of her wrongly charged lover and prove his innocence before the birth of their child. There’s been lots of marketing of this movie, beware of over zealous advertising!  Still, I liked the film.

Clementine “Tish” Rivers (KiKi Layne) and Alonzo “Fonny” Hunt (Stephan James) have been friends their entire lives. As children, they did everything together, from taking baths to playing in the streets.  As adults, they enter a romantic relationship together and hold a bond between them that can’t be broken. After deciding to get married, they struggle to find a place to live as most landlords refuse to rent apartments to black people. Eventually they found a place in a warehouse that is in the process of being converted to an apartment building. Levy (Dave Franco), the Jewish landlord, agrees to rent it to them at a reasonable rate due to the fact that he enjoys seeing couples in love, regardless of their race.

**** SOME SPOILERS ****

One night, when Tish is shopping at a predominately White grocery store, she is harassed by a White man. When he begins to assault her, Fonny physically throws the man out of the store.  Officer Bell (Ed Skrein), who was nearby witnesses the incident but because of his racist background, attempts to arrest Fonny.  Bell reluctantly lets Fonny go when the lady who runs the grocery store vouches for the couple.  Soon after the incident, Fonny is arrested for raping a Hispanic woman, despite the fact that it would have been virtually impossible for Fonny to travel from the scene of the crime to the apartment where he was arrested. The case against Fonny is considered strong due to Officer Bell’s testimony, who says the he saw Fonny fleeing the scene plus Victoria Rogers (Emily Rios), the victim, picks him out of a line-up then disappears after identifying Fonny as her rapist. Tish, as well as Fonny’s friend, Daniel Carty (Brian Tyree Henry), were with Fonny and would be his alibi at the time of the rape, but their testimony isn’t considered reliable due to Tish’s romantic relationship with Fonny, and Daniel’s previous conviction for grand theft auto (despite his claim to not even know how to drive a car).

While the film is dealing with the most delicate of matters, it doesn’t give any closure to the story. If Beale Street could Talk opens at the apartment where the Rivers family live. A routine family dinner is taking place, showing the closeness of the family and their status in the community. Learning of Tish’s pregnancy, they decide to invite Fonny’s family over to share the news. The scene gets down right hilarious as insults and accusations fly between the two families. Tish’s mother, Sharon Rivers (Regina King) has a way of showing her feelings through a series of facial expressions that would scare off most but then speaks in the most kind and soft voice that would make most melt. Tish’s father, Joseph Rivers (Coleman Domingo) is funny and supportive. Their story is heart felt and is worthy of anger directed at a tiresome racial problem that makes no sense. The saddest part, is we are still experiencing racism at the highest level and still we struggle to rise above it, tell our stories and suffer in hopes the problem ends before the world perishes. Hate is a terrible thing and we could achieve so much more without it. I enjoyed If Beale Street Could Talk, I just think it was a little over marketed.  Despite the appearance of a low budget the performances were quite believable, the story has much more to offer so Check it Out!

[If Beale Street Could Talk is Oscar nominated for Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Score]

 

CHI-RAQ (2015) – My rating: 8/10

Chi-raq is not an easy film to critique.  It’s based on a 2,000 year old Greek play and has a lot of controversy around the film, not to mention a stigma attached to the director, Spike Lee.  I will try to report the facts as I saw them.  Probably at this point, not many have heard or seen this movie.  You may not have even heard of the Greek play from which it was derived.

A Little Greek History:  Lysistrata (/laɪˈsɪstrətə/ or /ˌlɪsəˈstrɑːtə/; Attic Greek: Λυσιστράτη, “Army Disbander”) is a comedy by Aristophanes. Originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BCE, it is a comic account of one woman’s extraordinary mission to end the Peloponnesian War. Lysistrata persuades the women of Greece to withhold sexual privileges from their husbands and lovers as a means of forcing the men to negotiate peace—a strategy, however, that inflames the battle between the sexes. The play is notable for being an early exposé of sexual relations in a male-dominated society. The dramatic structure represents a shift away from the conventions of Old Comedy, a trend typical of the author’s career. It was produced in the same year as the Thesmophoriazusae, another play with a focus on gender-based issues, just two years after Athens’ catastrophic defeat in the Sicilian Expedition.

Chi-raq pronounced (“shy-rack”) is a nickname given to Americas third largest city, Chicago. Chicago was given this nickname because there are more murders and violence that occur in Chicago than the war in Iraq. Walking the streets of Chicago is like walking in Iraq with all the murders, robbery, gang bangs, and acts of violence.

Modern Chi-raq:  Lysistrata (Teyonah Parris) who is in love with aspiring Rapper Demtrius “Chi-raq” Dupree (Nick Cannon) ends up moving in with her neighbor Helen (Angela Bassett), a book-loving peace activist who lost her daughter years ago to a stray bullet.  Lysistrata is disturbed because of the war between Chi-raq’s Spartan gang and the rival Trojans, led by Cyclops (Wesley Snipes) plus the fact that the Trojans set fire to her apartment while she was in bed with Chi-raq.  Adding fuel to the fire, Patti, an 11-year-old neighborhood girl, falls victim to a drive-by shooting, leaving her grieving mother, Irene (Jennifer Hudson) to plead for anyone with info to come forward. Even after a reward is offered by a local Church congregation, led by fiery anti-gun-violence activist Father Mike Corridan (John Cusack), no one is willing to identify the killer.  Desperation resulted in the Spartan and Trojan women swearing off sex with their men until the fighting stops.  Women across the city and eventually the world joined the boycott.  Their chant:  “No Peace, No Piece”  —  Chi-raq is a searing satire of gun violence in America.

Chi-raq’s message is great but the movie is not for everyone.  It’s truly designed for the targeted audience of young gang bangers and wanna be thugs.  The language, profanity, sex and violence is plentiful.  The slang is deep and in some cases, too ambiguous to decode.  All in all, the message comes though and you will be entertained.  Chi-raq is filled with stars. Samuel L. Jackson narrates the story and there’s lots of eye candy, male and female.