Fruitvale Station

Simply called Fruitvale when it won both the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, this compelling, low-budget, documentary-like feature also impressed audiences at Cannes. It tells a true story about the last day in the life of Oscar Grant III (Michael B. Jordan), a 22-year-old African American man who was fatally shot in the San Francisco Bay area by a BART transit police officer in the early hours of New Year's Day in 2009. The unarmed Grant was shot in the back while lying handcuffed and prone on the floor of Oakland's Fruitvale metro stop--a scene that was filmed by dozens of cell phones. When the officer was charged with murder, his defense was that he mistook his gun for a taser. Also starring Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer as Grant's mother, the only real problem with Fruitvale Station lies in director Ryan Coogler's decision to compress so much positivity about Grant, a convicted felon, into a short time period. We see him dutifully obeying his mother's dictum that he use a hands-free device while driving, and coping with his girlfriend, (Melonie Diaz) and refusing to sell drugs, and tending a stray dog that's been hit by a car, and doing a seemingly endless series of other good deeds. By the time, Grant is goaded into fighting on the train by New Year's Eve revelers, he's practically a saint. Still, this is a powerful film, overall, and is recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a Q&A with the cast and filmmakers (28 min.), "The Story of Oscar Grant" on the real-life subject (22 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are bonus DVD and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a fine extras package for this provocative award-winning drama.] (S. Granger)