Plot
The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident, who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family, and strangers on the last day of 2008.
Release Year: 2013
Rating: 6.4/10 (708 voted)
Director:Ryan Coogler
Storyline
This is the true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who wakes up on the morning of December 31, 2008 and feels something in the air. Not sure what it is, he takes it as a sign to get a head start on his resolutions: being a better son to his mother, whose birthday falls on New Year's Eve, being a better partner to his girlfriend, who he hasn't been completely honest with as of late, and being a better father to T, their beautiful 4 year old daughter. He starts out well, but as the day goes on, he realizes that change is not going to come easy. He crosses paths with friends, family, and strangers, each exchange showing us that there is much more to Oscar than meets the eye. But it would be his final encounter of the day, with police officers at the Fruitvale BART station that would shake the Bay Area to its very core, and cause the entire nation to be witnesses to the story of Oscar Grant.
Taglines:
Every step brings you closer to the edge.
Trivia:
The film was acquired by The Weinstein Company for $2.5 million on January 21, 2013, two days after its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. See more »
User Review
Author:
Rating: 9/10
This film depicts story of a deeply flawed young man struggling to turn
his life around. The movie reveals the generous good-hearted nature of
Oscar, on whose life the story is based. The awards the film has won
are well deserved, as the film-maker succeeds in presenting an
unsparing look at Oscar's many failings even as he humanizes this young
man whose life is largely unknown to the American public. In a quite
amazing fashion, all of this is done through the lens of a single day
in Oscar's life, with only the aid of one brief flash-back.
Despite his efforts and his kindness, Oscar is failing to transcend his
past as much as he is succeeding in doing so. His struggle to change is
fueled by his relationships with three women central to his life, and
we are on the edge of our seats watching his relationships play out
with them, knowing before the movie begins how it will end. It is a
credit to the film-maker that he is able both to maintain that tension
and at the same time to draw us into Oscar's world so effectively. This
craftsmanship only underlines the tragedy of the final outcome more
starkly.
It is sad that the review that wins pride of place on this website
ignores Oscar and focuses on Officer Mehserle, who appears only briefly
in the movie. The film does not demonize Officer Mehserle, and one
might be tempted to do, but rather presents him as a blank slate.
Surely, as those who witnessed the events appeared to do, and as the
jury who found him guilty corroborated, we might well assume that he
committed a crime. However, his motives are not suggested in the movie,
his youth is clearly depicted, and his inexperience implied. Surely any
professional, a doctor for example, who makes a mistake of motor memory
under pressure and thus takes the life of another human being, should
be held accountable for her actions to the full extent of the law.
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