The Hate U Give: La haine qu'on donne

Because I'm from the city of St. Louis where we have our share of race issues, particularly issues that involve police, I really connected with the subject matter. It's a story worth telling, though I felt it was a bit over-written and more complex than it needed to be. But my biggest problem was that the presentation was too heavy-handed. Even though this movie unbiasedly explored the perspectives of everyone involved, it left no room for the viewers to form their own opinions. We were spoon fed, and at times it had the feel of an after school special. From the writing, to the performances, to the music, everything was very literal. There was no subtext or anything to read into. Maybe the filmmakers accomplished exactly what they were going for. The overall style was consistent throughout and it seemed that the artists behind this mostly hit their mark. For my money, however, I prefer an approach that is more challenging. But 6 out of 10 is still a passing grade. This is a subject that needed to be acknowledged on screen and I do feel that it was handled with respect and fairness.

This is an incredibly topical movie that addresses some very important social and racial issues that plague the American society. My problem here is that everything in this movie is so black and white (pun intended) that it loses its connection with the real world and helps perpetuate some stereotypes that aren't helpful for anybody. Now, I don't pretend to have the solution for these issues but I also am not sure that these kind of movies have them either. By making everything so morally easy doesn't help educate people that are faced with much more ambiguous challenges in real life and, for me, if they had made the movie more morally challenging it would make for a much more interesting and nuanced story. For example, my favorite scene in the movie is the short dialogue between Starr and her uncle when he gives her the cops point of view on the whole situation, but even that scene ends with a morally easy way out. I think this story needed more of those kind of scenes, where they would explore the ambiguity of the real world, and then, even if ambiguous, build an ethical point of view to try and do the correct thing and thus spreading your message through much harder scrutiny. On a technical note I think the movie is really well made and Amandla Stenberg was a revelation for me, as they needed someone who could carry the movie and she does a tremendous job, conveying charisma, strength and kindness, a very large emotional range for such a young actress. All in all I do think this is a good movie, even if it's preaching to the choir, that needed a bit more grey in a whole lot of black and white.

The Hate U Give (2018) is a movie my fiancé and I watched while on vacation. The storyline follows a young lady on her way home with her best friend when he gets gunned down by police officers. Everyone around her seems to have an opinion on how she should handle the situation until her voice gets drowned out. Can the young lady find her forum to get her message out the way she feels most comfortable? This movie is directed by George Tillman Jr. (Men of Honor) and stars Amandla Stenberg (The Hunger Games), Regina Hall (Scary Movie), Common (Wanted), Issa Rae (Insecure) and Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker). The storyline for this is very well told and paced. The cast is well selected and delivers their characters well. The chemistry within the family and its dynamics are very apparent. The delivery of the main character was key to the films success and she was solid (not outstanding). Overall the movie is a bit predictable but has a good message and unfolds well. I'd score this a 7.5/10.

It was promising, but halfway it got lost into many messages it wanted to send. The performances were really strong, though.

First off, the book was way better. It provides way more detail than the movie did, and I feel you should read the book first, gather way more information then the movies gives, and then watch the movie. This was a good movie, but I feel the editing was a little choppy and was quite basic. Amandla Stenberg absolutely slayed the roll though. She did an amazing job, and I haven't watched a movie with her in it that I didn't like. She's incredible. The movie didn't provide as much detail as the book, as I said above, so people did get more of the Black Lives Matter side out of the movie. You hear more from a black and a white cop in the book, so it was well done, giving two sides. All in all, the movie was good, but the book was way better. I highly recommend that you read the book before you watch the movie.