Review: Nickel Boys

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Official Synopsis: Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Colson Whitehead, Nickel Boys chronicles the powerful friendship between two young African American men navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida.

Director RaMell Ross was already great at capturing a moment in time. We saw this with his Oscar nominated short film Hale County, This Morning, This Evening. Here, he sticks close to his documentary roots and makes the decision to film from a first person POV. The actors are either talking to the camera, or we're sitting directly behind someone's head. It's both a bold and frustrating choice.

How you handle the camera work is going to make or break this for you. Having read the book, I knew what I was getting into and I found myself distracted by how I was viewing this story instead of being swept up in the gravity of it all. It dominated all aspects of the film. Yes, the actors were good. The director is talented, but when I think back on this film, all I think about is the camera. Not the story, which is devastating.

I think this film is going to work for a lot of people. It's a strong story, and it is a unique way of filmmaking done in a way that is unpretentious. I just wish I personally would've been able to get over the gimmick. 

Grade: B


Comments

  1. CandiceDecember 6, 2024 at 12:04 PM

    yeah, i felt a lot of the same way. though, unlike you, i have not read the book

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 6, 2024 at 2:44 PM

      I really expected this to do what Brooklyn did and slightly extend the ending scene a bit, but they completely avoid it all together.

      Delete
  2. thevoid99December 6, 2024 at 1:56 PM

    I do want to see this if it is worth the hype or not.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 6, 2024 at 2:43 PM

      I think it's worth watching. You like Terrance Malick a lot more than I do, so I bet the different angles won't distract you as much as it did me. He was the first thing I thought of when I saw the camera start moving lol

      Delete
  3. keith71_98December 8, 2024 at 1:49 PM

    I liked it but felt it comes a bit unglued near the end. And the first-perspective is really effective for a while but makes things needlessly difficult to follow in the second half (for me).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 9, 2024 at 8:12 AM

      It really does! I noticed that even more when I went back to rewatch a few scenes.

      Delete

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