Review of Tangerine (2015) by Matt B — 10 Jan 2016

I have so many thoughts. First of all, director Sean Baker needs way more credit than he is getting for this. This movie is entirely shot on iPhones. And you would honestly never know it. This is a testament not only to where technology is advancing, but also to Baker's talent.

The movie itself is hilarious, heartbreaking, eye opening, fascinating, and a million other adjectives. There's a whole world that exists on only a couple of LA blocks and this movie opens up that world to us.

It's also naturalism at its finest. It really does feel like someone turned their cameras on and followed these ladies (and another important character, a cab driver named Razmik) around. The music, which switches around, using hip-hop one scene and opera the next, fits every scene perfectly.

The climactic scene at Donut Time (not kidding) just keeps going and building up and is the epitome of a car crash; you don't want to watch but you can't tear your eyes away. It does get lost in its messiness sometimes, but this movie's heart is there, and I think this may be a sneaky surprise come awards time.