On Friday, I saw Just Mercy, starring Jamie Foxx and Michael B. Jordan.
Walter McMillian (Foxx) is a black man, living in Alabama, running his own business clearing out trees and brush around town. He has a family, a clean record and is well-liked in his community. One day in 1986, a white girl is murdered at a local dry cleaning store. There are no obvious suspects, but after six months, they bring McMillian in and accuse him of the crime, mostly because he once had an affair with a white woman. They have no evidence to support their theory, yet he is convicted and lands on death row.
His saving grace is Bryan Stevenson (Jordan), a recent east coast transplant who is dedicated to helping those wrongly convicted with their legal cases.
In the film, Foxx portrays McMillian as calm, rational, patient and (justifiably) angry. He doesn't have a lot of faith when Stevenson materializes because he's been let down so many times in the past, but you can feel him wanting to trust; wanting to have hope in someone. Alternately, Stevenson can't believe just how unfairly McMillian and several others in the system have been treated and vows to vindicate them. Jordan conveys a determined, if at times naive, man driven to succeed.
Though the reality of what I was watching was hard to take (because the story is true and the film is accurate in its retelling), I enjoyed it thoroughly. The performances drew me right in as if I was a member of that community, watching for the sidelines, praying for justice.
The wins have you wanting to cheer and the losses will make you weep, but you won't look at your watch once, and if you stay through the credits you get to see photos and updates about all of the featured characters.
~~~
Showing posts with label Jamie Foxx. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jamie Foxx. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Baby Driver
Tonight I saw Baby Driver, starring Ansel Elgort and Jon Hamm.
Baby (Elgort) isn't your average getaway car driver. He's young. He's distracted (by music of his own choosing). He's got a seemingly endless supply of sunglasses.
He's not meant for a life of crime.
This story, really mostly about him, is a ride in itself—a genre-bending, hilarious, tragic, sentimental, endearing, tense thriller that doesn't give you much of a chance to breathe between scenes.
Baby's boss, Doc (Kevin Spacey), promises him he can leave the life once he's settled a debt that's unbeknownst to us. He achieves this in a heart-thumping heist scene and calmly returns home, where he cares for Joseph (CJ Jones), an elderly deaf man, in a run-down apartment. He also gets friendly with waitress Debora, who works at a nearby diner.
All along, Baby has a continuous soundtrack playing in his ears. The excuse given is tinnitus, but his knack for making music from his secretly taped conversations leads us to believe there could be more to it.
He gets to know many of the criminals he drives for along the way. Smoldering Buddy (Hamm), evil Bats (Jamie Foxx) and others. They are suspect of his youth and his earbuds and his incredible skill at operating motor vehicles.
There are too many twists and turns to properly take the story any further without spoiling, so I'll leave it there and simply say: Edgar Wright has outdone himself.
I'm a fan of his other work (Shaun of the Dead probably the most recognizable), but this is better. It's smarter. Sharper. Faster.
Above all else, it has rhythm. Since the storytelling is woven through music that our protagonist selects for his various moods and jobs, the film radiates with a series of songs that wouldn't feel out of place in the world of Tarantino. And yes, there's violence. And some language too.
But it remarkably doesn't feel gratuitous, and the Georgia accent on our hero makes him all that more appealing. There's even a love story for the romantics to fall for.
I may have to see it again.
~~~
Baby (Elgort) isn't your average getaway car driver. He's young. He's distracted (by music of his own choosing). He's got a seemingly endless supply of sunglasses.
He's not meant for a life of crime.
This story, really mostly about him, is a ride in itself—a genre-bending, hilarious, tragic, sentimental, endearing, tense thriller that doesn't give you much of a chance to breathe between scenes.
Baby's boss, Doc (Kevin Spacey), promises him he can leave the life once he's settled a debt that's unbeknownst to us. He achieves this in a heart-thumping heist scene and calmly returns home, where he cares for Joseph (CJ Jones), an elderly deaf man, in a run-down apartment. He also gets friendly with waitress Debora, who works at a nearby diner.
All along, Baby has a continuous soundtrack playing in his ears. The excuse given is tinnitus, but his knack for making music from his secretly taped conversations leads us to believe there could be more to it.
He gets to know many of the criminals he drives for along the way. Smoldering Buddy (Hamm), evil Bats (Jamie Foxx) and others. They are suspect of his youth and his earbuds and his incredible skill at operating motor vehicles.
There are too many twists and turns to properly take the story any further without spoiling, so I'll leave it there and simply say: Edgar Wright has outdone himself.
I'm a fan of his other work (Shaun of the Dead probably the most recognizable), but this is better. It's smarter. Sharper. Faster.
Above all else, it has rhythm. Since the storytelling is woven through music that our protagonist selects for his various moods and jobs, the film radiates with a series of songs that wouldn't feel out of place in the world of Tarantino. And yes, there's violence. And some language too.
But it remarkably doesn't feel gratuitous, and the Georgia accent on our hero makes him all that more appealing. There's even a love story for the romantics to fall for.
I may have to see it again.
~~~
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Django Unchained
Yesterday I saw Django Unchained, starring Christoph Waltz and Jamie Foxx.
Django (Foxx) is a freed slave helping bounty hunter King (Waltz) search for a few select fugitives, who coincidentally are the same jerks who ripped Django and his wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) apart. Django is hungry to reunite with his lost love.
In typical Tarantino fashion, the conversations (and speeches) are lengthy (yet clever); characters have catchy, memorable names; good guys and bad guys engage in ridiculous amounts of violence; and black culture plays a big part.
In this case, the main bad guy is the always-brilliant Leonardo DiCaprio (Calvin Candie), who is slimy and charismatic all the same (without chewing scenery). Sparks practically fly off the screen as he and Waltz exchange their tension-filled pleasantries and negotiate business.
In fact, everyone here is good—Waltz definitely deserves his Oscar nod (though I probably would've placed him in the Best Actor category); DiCaprio an Foxx should've received them as well.
That said, what everyone is saying is true: this is far too bloody and far too long. I like seeing where QT will take us next, but I like seeing it without losing an entire day doing so.
When I think back to the first Tarantino film I enjoyed, Reservoir Dogs, which comes in at a trim 99 minutes, I remember wanting more, not shifting in my seat or looking at my phone for the time.
That's how all films should be.
Django (Foxx) is a freed slave helping bounty hunter King (Waltz) search for a few select fugitives, who coincidentally are the same jerks who ripped Django and his wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) apart. Django is hungry to reunite with his lost love.
In typical Tarantino fashion, the conversations (and speeches) are lengthy (yet clever); characters have catchy, memorable names; good guys and bad guys engage in ridiculous amounts of violence; and black culture plays a big part.
In this case, the main bad guy is the always-brilliant Leonardo DiCaprio (Calvin Candie), who is slimy and charismatic all the same (without chewing scenery). Sparks practically fly off the screen as he and Waltz exchange their tension-filled pleasantries and negotiate business.
In fact, everyone here is good—Waltz definitely deserves his Oscar nod (though I probably would've placed him in the Best Actor category); DiCaprio an Foxx should've received them as well.
That said, what everyone is saying is true: this is far too bloody and far too long. I like seeing where QT will take us next, but I like seeing it without losing an entire day doing so.
When I think back to the first Tarantino film I enjoyed, Reservoir Dogs, which comes in at a trim 99 minutes, I remember wanting more, not shifting in my seat or looking at my phone for the time.
That's how all films should be.
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