Review of If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) by Ahmedaiman1999 — 31 Jan 2019

Barry Jenkins once again boasts his prodigious, unearthly talent of visual storytelling. But this time he enhanced it by the magical Power of Love. And here we have a piece of visual poetry!

Despite incorporating narration in its storytelling, the movie leans heavily on its sensory aspect and its rich, haunting atmosphere.

In every scene to convey emotion. With the help of James Laxton's richly hued cinematography, and Nicholas Britell's score which is brimming with love, hope and also darkness, Jenkins weaves Baldwin's tragic romantic story into a tender cinematic experience that could easily be mistaken as a poem.

I have some issues with the dialogue, though. I think it needed to be more gritty, hence more convincing and compelling. There's no doubt that Jenkins' reliance on the atmosphere he created to give the movie its emotional impact paid off marvelously for the most part. But some moments in the movie I found to be too soupy and mushy for its own good. These moments I found a bit hard to swallow, especially when the movie tackles some heavy themes like racism.

The chapter-like narrative technique was a mixed bag for me. While it made me eager to know more and more about the characters and the story in general as the plot unravels slowly; almost time the movie introduces to me a new sub-plot, or rather a new chapter in its story, I felt it to be forced, heavy-handed and a little on the nose at at first glance. Especially, because of the simplicity of the dialogue as I mentioned above. That said, Barry Jenkins' tender, exquisite and superbly elegant direction, along with the massively amiable and endearing protagonists, makes me thoroughly engrossed and immersed in every single scene in no time.

KiKi Layne and Stephan James's captivating performances made their already-relatable characters even more sympathetic and appealing. Regina King is great. But, unfortunately, she has few moments to shine. Pedro Pascal, Diego Luna, and Dave Franco are quite good, but their roles are too small to show their acting talents.

Ed Skrein's acting was a bit hammy, IMO. On the other hand, Brian Tyree Henry (Atlanta), whose role is also small, delivered a terrific performance that made his scenes stick in my mind even now.

Maybe I criticized the movie a bit too harsh. But it's actually way more easy to mention the few issues I have with it than to describe the arresting experience I had watching it.