Fruitvale Station

A beautifully tragic character study, heartbreakingly portrayed by Michael B. Jordan in a star turn, of a son, father, husband, lover, brother, friend, victim and martyr. In over a course of a day, interspersed with occasional flashbacks, writer/director Ryan Coogler, introduced us to the many facets and complexities of Oscar Grant, bringing us into his world, his life, his story. With simple vignettes we get a rather complete picture of what kind of guy Oscar was, or cynically, what kind of guy Coogler wants us to believe Oscar was in order to illicit the maximum emotional impact from the ending (which if one follows current affairs, is not much of a spoiler). And lucky for Coogler, and the audience, Jordan was more than competent in bringing this complicated character alive, delivering an emotionally charged performance that revealed the multiple layers beneath that famous name. It was heartbreaking as we followed him through this one day, this one fateful day, where through we get an idea of who Oscar was, who Oscar is, and who Oscar wants to be. All that potential and all that love that could have been. Kudos also goes out to Octavia Spencer, who gave us another powerful performance after her Oscar-winning turn in "The Help". It is still early in the race, but the movie, the director/writer, Michael B. Jordan and Octavia Spencer all have a chance to get nominated in this year's Academy Awards. Although some may fault the unbiased nature of the storytelling (but, hey, this ain't a documentary), but without a doubt, it was an effective, emotional story with an attention grabbing by Jordan. PS: look out for the almost unrecognisable Chad Michael Murray.