 |
| Courtesy of Lionsgate |
Collin (Diggs, a Tony winner for his star-making turn in Hamilton) has three days left on his probation, after which he must figure out how succeed in a world that views him primarily as a convicted felon. Fortunately, he’s got a decent job working for a moving company that allows him to spend most of his time with Miles (Casal), his troublemaking best friend since childhood.
It’s also a way for Collin to keep seeing his ex-girlfriend (Janina Gavankar), who works as a dispatcher for the company and seems at least slightly open to rekindling their romance once his probation is up. But his life is upended when, rushing to make it home before his mandatory curfew, he witnesses a police officer (Ethan Embry) shoot an unarmed black man in the back. The traumatic event leaves Collin shaken and forces him to reassess his relationships with those closest to him.
Although Blindspotting grapples with thematically bleak material ripped from contemporary headlines, Diggs and Casal keep the movie from feeling like misery porn by injecting the proceedings with a sharp, borderline absurdist sense of humor. The hilarious opening sequence, which introduces several key themes at once, is a great example.
It reveals shades of both Spike Lee’s masterpiece Do the Right Thing and – to a lesser extent – Kevin Smith’s Clerks. Both films seem like influences on Diggs’ and Casal’s screenplay, especially when third-act complications ramp up the dramatic tension.
The two leads are terrific, making Collin and Miles starkly different from one another while also demonstrating a remarkable chemistry (which makes sense considering they’re lifelong friends) that helps viewers understand why they still hang out after all these years. Miles sums up their dynamic perfectly when he remarks that they have “kind of a Calvin and Hobbes thing going on.”
Diggs and Casal also use their backgrounds in hip-hop to naturally integrate freestyling into conversations, heightening the language in a way that adds dramatic flair while also keeping the story mostly grounded in realism. Sadly, the one scene where this rings false just happens to be one of the film’s most important moments.
I see what the collaborators were going for, but they rely on a whopper of a coincidence to make it happen. When almost every other plot development happens organically, this one misstep was enough to take me out of the movie precisely when I should’ve been most engaged.
Regardless, everything else about Diggs’ and Casal’s debut – especially their partnership with director Carlos Lopez Estrada, who has a keen eye for finding visually stunning imagery in everyday locations – makes Blindspotting a must-see. I’m already making plans to watch it again to pick up on elements I missed the first time around.
Blindspotting is rated R for language throughout, some brutal violence, sexual references and drug use.
Although Blindspotting grapples with thematically bleak material ripped from contemporary headlines, Diggs and Casal keep the movie from feeling like misery porn by injecting the proceedings with a sharp, borderline absurdist sense of humor. The hilarious opening sequence, which introduces several key themes at once, is a great example.
It reveals shades of both Spike Lee’s masterpiece Do the Right Thing and – to a lesser extent – Kevin Smith’s Clerks. Both films seem like influences on Diggs’ and Casal’s screenplay, especially when third-act complications ramp up the dramatic tension.
The two leads are terrific, making Collin and Miles starkly different from one another while also demonstrating a remarkable chemistry (which makes sense considering they’re lifelong friends) that helps viewers understand why they still hang out after all these years. Miles sums up their dynamic perfectly when he remarks that they have “kind of a Calvin and Hobbes thing going on.”
Diggs and Casal also use their backgrounds in hip-hop to naturally integrate freestyling into conversations, heightening the language in a way that adds dramatic flair while also keeping the story mostly grounded in realism. Sadly, the one scene where this rings false just happens to be one of the film’s most important moments.
I see what the collaborators were going for, but they rely on a whopper of a coincidence to make it happen. When almost every other plot development happens organically, this one misstep was enough to take me out of the movie precisely when I should’ve been most engaged.
Regardless, everything else about Diggs’ and Casal’s debut – especially their partnership with director Carlos Lopez Estrada, who has a keen eye for finding visually stunning imagery in everyday locations – makes Blindspotting a must-see. I’m already making plans to watch it again to pick up on elements I missed the first time around.
Blindspotting is rated R for language throughout, some brutal violence, sexual references and drug use.
Grade: B+
Comments
Post a Comment