Middle of Nowhere

True love demands certain sacrifices, so Ruby regularly visits her husband Derek in prison, works hard to pay household and legal expenses, and endures frequent and unbearable lectures from her mother regarding bad life choices. Her husband is a good man, so it is worth it. Time, however, has a way of changing things. Despite her devotion, Ruby faces temptations and disappointments. She struggles to maintain her dignity and composure, and to shine even on her worst day.

This elegant and complex film is a little hidden treasure waiting to be discovered. I was delighted to find it. The photography is one of the best things about it; colorful and beautiful images (mostly at night) make the film a gem even if it had no sound. The moody music, acoustic and ambient, adds to the magic. The story, acting and directing are also extremely well done. This film must have been a profound influence for Moonlight, or be connected to it in some way, for both films are similar in appearance, aura and stupefying impressions they leave. Winner of best director prize at Sundance.

It is always refreshing to see good indie movies exploring dark themes in a sensitive and almost lyric way. These are, incidentally, the two major strong points of this movie.

There are many titles, some rather good ones, exploring incarceration an its effects on the person behind bars. Multiple angles and story lines are explored, almost always from the incarcerated point of view.

'Middle of Nowhere', instead, puts the focus on an accomplished young woman whose life hangs still when her young husband is incarcerated for a long term, and makes the movie about the effects of incarceration on people who are on the outside, supposedly free, but actually suffering by proxy a set of restrictions and struggles that derive from the fact that a loved one or in-law is not present. That is an interesting take on the subject.

Nonetheless, the script is just too slow. There are several cogent reasons for a script to be slow, such as character development, parallel narratives - but none of them could possible justify it here. Thus, it becomes very difficult to keep paying attention on what the director had in mind as dozens of minutes are just fillers that, in turn, are juxtaposed with some pivotal scenes that are paradoxically too hurried up.

I'm always really happy to see films directed by African American women, period. It's so hard to get a budget, so hard to make it happen, and so few sistas writing and directing feature length narrative films, I make a point to support. When Ava DuVernay won the Best Director award 2012's Sundance Film Festival for her second feature film Middle of Nowhere, I was really overjoyed, and excited to see the film. Especially since the film covers a subject I'm very passionate about, incarceration of African American men. I was also excited to see that David Oyewolo was cast to play "Brian," as I consider him one of the greatest actors in Hollywood; the Sidney Poitier of his generation. And wow, the lead played by Emayatzy Corinealdi was a real treat to see her work, she's beautiful and has chops! Add one of the most talented up and coming Directors of Photography, Bradford Young to the equation and yooooooooo! So, I'm all the way in... and yeah... I find myself in the middle of nowhere. I want to feel more, the actors are good... and the film is kind of muted, seems to be mostly shot in natural light, lots of shadows, brooding. No commentary on prison industrial complex, this film is about relationships, in a vacuum. But I want to talk about brothers being incarcerated and an exponentially greater margin for the same crimes committed by white males, but... yeah... no, not this film. So, I got over that, and rode the film for what it is, a look at a difficult time in a woman's life, who had really invested a lot in her relationship with her incarcerated husband. You know what I dug though, we get to see folks who are living on the margins in L.A., like they don't cars and have to take the bus, folks are struggling... like in reality out there. And I really respect DuVernay for letting her characters be struggling financially, which is in itself actually revolutionary for most films that have to do with Black characters in Hollywood these days... it's like it's daring to not be corporate lawyers, athletes, marketing tycoons or whatever. Yeah, I want to see a story about a bus driver, an nurse and an incarcerated brother, here played by Omari Hardwick. So why do I feel, like I want to like this film more than I actually did when I left the theater. Is it because it didn't offer a Hollywood ending for me? Nooooo, that can't be it!!!! Definitely worth seeing, but wasn't really the film I had got so hyped to see.

It's possible to tell a story about the so-called negative aspects of a culture without belittling the group or individuals involved. This is something directors, particularly of African descent, seem to be lacking, imo. In other words, if there's no brutality depicted , then it's "not capturing the rawness of reality" ...Ms DuVernay defies this false notion and I've noticed she has been stealthily doing so for quite a while now. I would be proud to call her my daughter, sister, or partner if I had such a relationship with her. unfortunately, I'll just have to settle for a proud, admiring fan. The lesson here: It's all about humanizing the characters, not trashing their existence, Well done!.

Enjoyed the work. It was engaging, sad, poignant, deep, and delved into many facets in the web of relationships. I don't understand and likely won't why an accomplished, beautiful, young, intelligent, caring, kind person could allow themselves to be so completely consumed with a situation so dysfunctional. And not just dysfunctional, but a situation which could have derailed their life or even resulted in death by law enforcement. Fortunately, they didn't lose themselves completely and were able to lift up from the despair. It's one thing to love and support our incarcerated loved ones, it's another thing to totally subjugate our lives to the situation. This film is a powerful portrayal of choices.