Blindspotting

This is the most Oakland movie ever created in my opinion, the film oozes with so much Town flavor that I fear a plethora of hipsters will soon enough come flocking from all over, trying to claim the Bay as their new home.

Pros: everything from the writing to the directing & acting was on point, I also loved the breakdown of the word Blindspotting & how we all are guilty of such action.

Cons: No Mr. FAB cameo, I was waiting to see him show up in some capacity.

Though Blindspotting has its cliche moments, overall it's an important film tackling race relations and gentrification in America. The chemistry and genuine camaraderie between writers/stars Diggs and Casal is at the heart of this film.

Blindspotting is 2018's refresher of comedy and drama. It is a story of identity and friendship from the perspective of an ex-convict trying to make it out of a halfway house in the city of Oakland. Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal bring a great performance to screen through beats of intense action and lyrical commentary on issues faced in real life.

While in the theaters for another movie I saw a trailer for Blindspotting and thought, "This looks OK. Nothing special just OK." Then sometime later I saw a second trailer and thought, "Hmmm, this looks like something I may want to watch." I'm so glad I watched it.

The movie is incredible. Now, a little disclaimer: I definitely gave it a star or two more for being Oakland based and Oakland themed. And it wasn't simply that Oakland, California was the backdrop, no! It was thoroughly Oakland from the soundtrack, to the BART train, to the big wheel bikes, the big rim scrapers, the neighborhoods, and of course the A's, the Warriors, and the Raiders. Blindspotting definitely appeals to the Bay Area niche but it also has a larger universal appeal for anyone living in an urban area.

This movie was so well written, directed, and acted--they hit the trifecta. The center focus was the two main characters, Collin (Daveed Diggs), who is an African-American male on probation and Miles (Rafael Casal), who is a white male that is Collin's best friend and a bit of a loose canon. The dynamics between them was so fascinating and illustrated so well: a black man trying to be straight and having to be extra careful and a white man who is almost completely reckless yet not having the same fears.

But the movie tackled more than that. It covered gentrification, police brutality, living as a black felon and living as a white male who's just a product of his environment. It deftly handled all of these sensitive and delicate topics without offending the sensibilities or coming off trite. There was some powerful imagery, some powerful situations and even more powerful dialogue. The script was clever, intelligent and so spot on. Blindspotting is Oakland's Do the Right Thing, or Boyz n the Hood, or even more appropriate--Good Will Hunting.

This has been the best movie I've seen this year and that's saying a lot. I hope the writers, Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal, get their due recognition as well as the director Carlos Lopez Estrada. This movie could not have been easy to pull off and I think they all did a magnificent job.

1. Those hoping to see an exciting but totally realistic film WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED! 2. Those hoping to see a serious film dealing with a disturbing problem in today's America WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED! 3. Those hoping to see incredible acting and incredible film-making by Hollywood new-comers WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED! 4. Those hoping to see a film that (a) sparks much thought and discussion afterwards AND (b) affects one deeply WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED!

Hopefully this film will be remembered when The Academy prepares its list of 2018 Oscar nominees.