If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

A movie with a powerful message.

I had no idea what I was walking into when I started watching If Beale Street Could Talk. I knew that it had been praised by many, many people, so I thought it was going to be beautiful, moving, and well-done, but I had no idea that it was going to be such a powerful film.

Probably one of my favorite things about this film is that it was unapologetic. It was bold and forceful and held none of its punches. In many movies, especially if there is a predominantly black cast, at least one white person is featured (usually to be comedic relief or to bear the brunt of jokes), but that didn’t happen here. They didn’t feel the need to make white audience members more comfortable or make this film about racial reconciliation. And, to me, that was a breath of fresh air.

This film was melancholic and absolutely wonderful.

I thought this film set in Harlem would be about jazz or creativity or something along those lines. I thought I would be whisked into little clubs as a struggling musician tried to make it big. I imagined a painter or author who is a misunderstood genius capitalizing screen time. But that’s not at all what this was about.

Prison & Plea Deals

For the majority of the film, Fonny, one of the protagonists, is behind bars. We only see him outside of prison in the beginning moments and during Tish’s flashbacks. Unjustly incarcerated, his family scrambles to pay for a lawyer to get him out, but they fail at every turn.

The truth is that our current criminal justice system is far from just. Many people are incarcerated though they are innocent and, because the court systems are so backed up, they take plea deals to avoid a potential life sentence.

Though the situation is dire and tragic, we get to watch Fonny and his family fight for his freedom and humanity.

Families

In many films, black families, in particular, are portrayed as broken or fractured. Rarely is the father in the picture for whatever reason, leaving the mother to raise the kids on her own. This film, however, features two sets of parents with two fathers who are intimately involved in the lives of their children.

Both Tish and Fonny’s fathers are loving and kind and do all they can to protect their families. While they are far from perfect men, their love, kindness, and diligence set them apart from so many other characters that I’ve seen.

Love

Rarely do I like love stories. Many that I’ve seen unrealistically promote the idea that love will conquer all. While I believe that love is a good thing and can be a powerful force in our lives, I don’t believe that this will solve all of our problems. In fact, love will often cause a whole host of problems of its own.

Though this young couple relied on the strength of their love to keep them going, that wasn’t the only thing they rested upon. The audience was welcomed into the pain of the characters as they experienced their own struggles. Despite their age, both Fonny and Tish took the hits that came their way like adults and were willing to do what needed to be done, even if it was difficult or uncomfortable. Love wasn’t a magical bandaid that they slapped on their lives to solve all their problems.

Both main characters relied on the strength of the community around them during difficult times, instead of retreating into their own little world.

This film was beautiful and captivating every step of the way. It took a good, hard look at our society and told the truth through an exquisite piece of art. Barry Jenkins and the team behind If Beale Street Could Talk deserve to be celebrated and I can’t wait to see what’s coming next from them.

Listen to our review of If Beale Street Could Talk on The Strategic Whimsy Experiment here: https://apple.co/2DH63Vv.