Fruitvale Station Reviews

(MU) Spoiler alert since the beginning, and even so, touching composition of a tragic character, summing up his evil ways and his natural tenderness with kids and everybody...

Since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this movie, I was quite eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, even though it was definitely a decent watch, I can't say it really blew away though. I guess it had to do with the fact that even though Oscar Grant was an interesting character, he was still not really fascinating, regardless of his really tragic death. Eventually, this movie raises the following question: should your life becomes suddenly more interesting from the moment you die in the most random way possible? Anyway, in spite of these flaws, it was still a pretty good movie though thanks to some solid directing from Ryan Coogler, especially when you  think that it was his directing debut, and a star-making performance from Michael B. Jordan. Indeed, even though I had already seen couple of his other movies, it is actually thanks to this movie that I finally saw his true potential. Indeed, the guy has enough charisma and talent to actually become the next Denzel Washington. Anyway, to conclude, even though I don't think this movie was really a masterpiece, it was still a solid drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 

I never saw its teaser, nor read its synopsis, but straight went to see it. And I kind of not satisfied for the first hour of the movie. I just wondered what was the movies' idea to fulfill the viewer's desire. Right away I knew it was not an entertainer, then it must highlight something or give a message. Till the beginning of the end, I thought the same way. Then my perspective changed, actually it changed my previous stance about all the earlier narration.

I know y'all are upset, but got to lift him up.
Let's keep him lifted up.

After witnessing the crucial last scene, I was stunned by the incident that was portrayed in the movie. Realized all the initial developments were got meaning in this part of the movie. So I came to know it was based on the real incident. First of all it was not a person's whole biography, though it is told from his critical time of life. The incident can be viewed in two ways. The fight definitely took place on the sub-way, it was not the Oscar Grant's (lead man) fault. But still the consequences are expected, especially on the new year's eve the alert against violence cannot be negligible by the law. But, what cops did was the over reaction to the situation.

Such incidents happen in every country and many of them won't come into the lights. I'm glad about this movie, because it kind of creates awareness of such events. Hats off to all the cast and crew who brought it into the silver screen and now the whole world can know the truth. A must see movie among the 2013 releases.

Fruitvale station is an extremely sad movie about a real murder happened in 2009.

****Spoiler Alert*****

The movie start off with an actual video recorded by a mobile phone demonstrating police brutality case with 3 cops holding 4 guys against a wall in Fruitvale station, and the video end up with a shot fired and screen cuts black.

What follows is a story about a 22 year old guy, just got out of the jail and trying to get back to his life, saying that he would stop dealing drugs and he's going to be a loving father to his 4 year old daughter and to his mother.

The movie is 85 minutes with about 70 minutes that isn't interesting, basically capturing the last 24 hours before the event leading to fruitvale station.

The movie have a low budget production value and doesn't seem scripted, while that somehow makes it look very real and it's also make you engaged to the story.

After a guy identify him at the train, he call him off trying to pick a fight with him, so a brawl start at the train and as soon as the train pull off, they try (Oscar and his bodies) to escape the police station but the police was waiting for them.

So they detain them against a wall while people surrounding them holding their phones recording, suddenly a shot fired by an officer hitting Oscar in the back, he dies the next morning in the hospital due to massive internal bleeding.

**This part is just a script at the end of the movie**

The events afterward is extremely sad in which the officer who shot Oscar Pleaded not guilty and claimed that Oscar was resisting arrest and that he saw Oscar reaching his waist trying to pull something, while that was not clear in the video, the officer thought that he's pulling his tasor, turned out to be a real gun and shot Oscar on his back.

The Officer was accused of 1st degree murder and the court verdict was 2 years in prison, in which he end up spending 11 months only.

"They fucking shot him! They shot him in the fucking back for no reason, man!"

On New Year's Day of 2009, 22-year-old Oscar Grant was shot by a nervous BART police officer who had apparently intended to use his taser, and the young man died in hospital soon afterwards. Fruitvale Station sets out to recount Oscar's last day, constructing a portrait of the young African-American who was working towards putting his life back together following a drug-related stint in prison. Trying to cover for losing his grocery store job due to tardiness, Oscar (played by Michael B. Jordan) spends his New Year's Eve figuring out his future, hoping to land a steady job and continue providing for his girlfriend Sophina (Melonie Diaz) and young daughter Tatiana (Ariana Neal). After celebrating his mother's birthday, Oscar and a number of his friends take a train into the city to watch the NYE fireworks, unaware that this will lead to Oscar's terrible fate at Fruitvale train station...

Written and directed by newcomer Ryan Coogler, Fruitvale Station is dense in resonant messages and themes, giving the simplistic narrative a great deal of weight. Coogler is especially keen to emphasise that there's a story behind every fatality that we hear about in the media. Deaths are so common that we no longer think much of them, but Coogler reminds us that every deceased person has hopes, dreams and loved ones. Oscar Grant's story is especially potent, as he was cut down at the time he gained clarity and was determined to clean up his life. Not to mention, his death was an accident that could've been easily prevented. The main thematic through-line of Fruitvale Station is the fragility of our existence, as any one of us could be killed at any time. At one stage in the story, Oscar encounters a kindly stray dog just moments before it's struck by a car, astutely underlining life's unpredictability and poignantly foreshadowing what is about to come.

Coogler actually opens Fruitvale Station with authentic, grainy cell phone footage of the stomach-churning moment when Oscar was shot after being detained following a fight that broke out on the metro. It establishes a chilling reality, and our enlightenment about how the story will end only serves to accentuate how beautiful, crucial and fleeting each second of the feature - and of Oscar's life - really is. Commendably, Coogler portrays Oscar as a real person: he has a big heart, but he also has a bad temper and has gone astray with the law. He flirts, lies and deals drugs, and loses his job because he continually fails to show up. Yet, despite all of his bad choices, there is tenderness to this man - he loves his family and daughter, and hopes to patch things up with his girlfriend and start a proper family life. Coogler paints a full, rich portrait of Oscar, who's imperfect but lovable, and in no way deserved to meet such a tragic end.

Even though Fruitvale Station runs a very economical 90 minutes, it's enough time for us to feel properly acquainted with Oscar, coming to know him on a profound level. It's possible to become immersed in this world and feel familiar with all of the people in this story. The tragedy feels all the more painful and real due to this intimacy, and it's borderline impossible to remain unaffected during the final act. We know what Oscar's ultimate end is, but the moment is nevertheless horrifying, and his valiant fight for life in hospital is unbearably upsetting. You want Oscar to pull through and continue improving his life, hence his death really hits home. Fortunately, Fruitvale Station is also a beautifully crafted motion picture. This was Coogler's first feature, yet the movie is robust and competent - it was shot on 16mm film, yielding a beautifully gritty cinematic look that suits the material.

Another of Fruitvale Station's strongest assets is its cast, led by Jordan who's extraordinary in the pivotal role of Oscar Grant. Jordan utterly disappears into the character, and he's so amicable and down-to-earth that it's easy to latch onto him. The supporting cast is just as good, delivering focused and nuanced work all-round. Coogler could have taken the easy way out and portrayed the offending police officers as flat-out evil, but the performers give depth to their characters, leaving it ambiguous as to whether Oscar's death was deliberate or accidental. Considering that Coogler is so firmly on Oscar's side, this detail is commendable, making the experience far richer.

No doubt Coogler embellished and fictionalised several events in retelling Oscar Grant's final day, and a few reviewers have criticised this. But to slam the film on this basis would be foolhardy - it is prudent to judge Fruitvale Station on its own merits; as a motion picture that tells a story. After all, films like Zero Dark Thirty, Gladiator and Braveheart are famously inaccurate, yet this aspect does not diminish the worth of those endeavours at all. Fruitvale Station is a masterpiece and one of the most important movies of 2013. It teaches us that every life is an intricate tapestry of the good and the bad, and it reminds us that before every death, there was a life. It's incredibly moving, rendering Fruitvale Station absolutely unforgettable.

9.1/10