MOVIE: Fruitvale Station

Fruitvale Station: Oakland, California, New Year’s Eve and Morning 2009.  The movie opens with a phone camera sequence of what occurred at the BART station that fateful New Year’s morning.  The film shows us what happened in the life of Oscar Grant III during the approximate 20 hours leading up to the fatal interplay between BART security guards and Oscar Grant at approx. 2:00 a.m. on January 1, 2009.  The film’s goal and that of Ryan Coogler, the writer and first time director of this excellent film, was to show that Oscar’s death was absolutely unnecessary, and this was accomplished by focusing on the individual and not the actual tragic event.  Michael B. Jordon, playing 22 year old Oscar, gives an Oscar-worthy performance.  We are shown his flaws and his temper; for instance, the flashback scene to Oscar’s time at San Quentin (drugs).  We are also shown Oscar’s devotion to his five year old daughter, “T” for Tatiana, played delightfully by Ariana Neal.  The power of the film lies in the honesty with which it presents its characters as well as the excellent acting.  Octavia Spencer plays Oscar’s mother.  One of the film’s more powerful scenes is when she is visiting Oscar at San Quentin.  All the scenes between Oscar and his mother have a real honesty to them.  Melonie Diaz plays Sophina, the mother of T, and she shows the right amount of skepticism about whether Oscar will make good on turning his life around.  Diaz and Jordon play well off each other although not quite to the extent as Jordon and Spencer.  The events at BART comprise only a short part of this short film (just 85 minutes long), and occur more than an hour into the film.  Oscar was an unarmed Black man who was restrained and shot in the back.  The postscript tells us that a BART officer was convicted of involuntary manslaughter (defense was he confused his gun for his laser) and served 11 months of a 2 year sentence.  Unlike the Florida events involving Martin and Zimmerman, there were numerous camera shots from people heading home on BART so we know what happened, including the fact that Oscar and his friends didn’t need to be restrained by the BART police in the first place.  This is a well done film that shows the randomness of a Black man being killed.  To say more would go beyond reviewing a film.  The movie is a Sundance Film Festival award winner and truly deserves the honors it has received.  BART allowed the film to be shot at the Fruitvale Station – this film has realism that can bring tears.  Forest Whittaker gave Coogler the backing to make this film.