Review of Barry

I don't care if people know this, but Barack Obama is awesome. His family is excellent and I have respect for them as a whole. I wanted to see Southside with Me, but haven't gotten around to that one yet. So when I saw this one pop out on Netflix I was instantly curious. I'm really starting to like Anya Taylor-Joy and it's nice to see her doing something dramatic instead of Sci-Fi or horror. This is the first film from Vikram Gandhi that isn't a documentary. Although it being a biography I'm sure he did a heck of a lot of research. This is also written by funny author Adam Mansbach of Go The F**k to Sleep that was popularly and humorously read by Samuel L. Jackson of course. So for these two to take on this movie is a very interesting set up.

That was actually pretty straightforward and simple. I think the love story was alright, but knowing the outcome did kind of take away from that aspect of the movie. The cast was excellent though. Newcomer Devon Terrell did an excellent portrayal of you Barack Obama and really had his speech down. Anya Taylor-Joy did great with her roll and it wasn't weird seeing her in a normal film. Though her role is apparently a fictionalized collection of Obama's college girlfriends. Odd decision if you ask me. Jason Mitchell was great and much different than how I saw him in Kong or Straight Outta Compton. A lot of the small parts had good actors too including Ellar Coltrane from Boyhood, Jason Mitchell, and Ashley Judd. The whole thing is well acted and gets it's points across.

I liked that this doesn't try so hard yet it runs so smoothly. It's straightforward and has a simple feel to it. The underlying message of it though is where the depth is at. Plus the acting is excellent. If you are an Obama hater well then this wouldn't be for you. To understand the man as a whole though this gives some look into his background. I for one really enjoyed it.