Whilst I found a lot to admire in Barry Jenkins 2017 best picture Oscar winner, Moonlight, it was not a film I loved.His follow up, If Beale Street Could Talk, though flawed, has made a deeper impression on me. Tish (Kiki Layne) and Fonny (Stephan James) are teenagers in 1970s New York. They have been friends since childhood and are discovering they have feelings for each other. Shortly into their relationship, however, Funny is arrested for a crime he did not commit and faces a lengthy prison term, just as Tish discovers she is pregnant.
Holding together better as a single narrative than Moonlight, this is a powerful and affecting movie. Both the racism endemic in the US judicial system at the time and the divides in the black society are examined by Jenkins. It may be a flaw of the film that the supporting cast are much more interesting than the leads, in that I don’t think it is the fault of Layne and James. Regina King is taking the plaudits as Tish’s Mum, and she is very impressive, particularly when she travels to Puerto Rico in her attempts to prove her potential son in law’s innocence. But I think it is Colman Domingo as her husband, Joseph, who provides the heart to the film in a brilliant performance.
The supporting particularly shine in the two best scenes in the film. An incendiary family get together when Tish breaks the news of her pregnancy to Fonny’s family and a poignant conversation between Fonny and his old friend, Daniel who has just been released from prison and is finding it hard to cope in the outside world. Brian Tyree Henry might only have a small part as Daniel but it is a telling one.
There are times when Jenkins gets away with over indulgences such as a needless scene showing Fonny sculpting and some of the scenes of the Tish and Fonny’s tentative romance feel a little too drawn out, when, because of the flashback and forward structure of the narrative, we are already aware of what happens between them However, this is a touching and timely film, that also features a truly beautiful score from the talented Nicholas Britell.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10