Fruitvale Station DVD Review – A Heartbreaking Tough and Emotional Drama

This poignant film is based on a true story about Oscar Grant, who was shot dead by police in 2009 and is available to buy on DVD and digital download on October 6th.

Ryan Coogler’s FRUITVALE STATION has received critical acclaim (and quite rightly so) for its emotional delivery and compassion reconstructing the final 24 hours in the life of Oscar Grant and the film will be available to buy on Blu-ray and DVD from October 6th.

It re-enacts the true story of Oscar Grant, a young black man who, in the early hours of New Year’s Day 2009, was shot dead by a police officer on a train station platform in Oakland, California after a controversial train incident.

A brief scuffle on the train after the New Year celebrations occurred and the suspected individuals accused of causing the raucous were ordered to leave the train and sit on the side of the platform. Catastrophically for Grant, he was shot dead at point-blank range after he and his friends were seen to be roughly mistreated.  At the time of the incident, Grant was unarmed, handcuffed and lying face-down at the order of some overly-aggressive police officers who went too far trying to control the situation at Fruitvale Station.

Grant was the victim of an officer who declared it was not homicide, as he intended to pull out his taser like the other officers had, not his gun.

The horrific scenes of this real life tragedy were brought to life and the attention of the world after many people filmed the incident on their mobile phones. The appalling occurrence revoked uproar by the local and wider community about how the incident had been carried out – and more importantly how unfairly.  

The film is a heart-wrenching and poignantly realistic take on African-American lives and is cleverly and simplistically shot to show the final hours of Oscar Grant’s life.

Michael B Jordan delivers the role of his lifetime in this movie. Every emotion is conveyed with such precise delivery and he makes it easy to be believe that you are really watching Grant – as though you are a fly on a wall in a documentary of the last day of his life.  

Grant’s role is superbly supported and uplifted by his co-stars Melonie Diaz, who plays his girlfriend Sophina, and Octavia Spencer his long-suffering mother, Wanda.

The film drives you to feel great empathy for Oscar Grant from the onset. Yes, he was not perfect: he had a criminal record, he was a drug dealer, he cheated on his girlfriend and was flawed, but underneath all of that, there was a man who was desperate for a change.  

His final 24-hours were full of hope and the prospects of starting a new life, whilst planning his mother’s birthday celebrations, but they were only to be tragically thwarted during a series of events. His former boss refused to give him his job back, he was trying to rebuild his relationship with his girlfriend – the mother of their daughter Tatiana, he witnessed a dog being run over, he was concerned about paying the rent and even his sister called to ask for help financially.  

But regardless of all these obstacles, the film draws the audience to sympathise with Grant as he makes attempts to reform himself.  He is a man with a soul who is trying to redeem his mistakes and make his way once more in life.

The film cleverly sets you up for impending tragedy from the onset. Even for those unfamiliar with Grant’s shooting, it becomes apparent from the onset with the mobile phone footage from the night of the killing. Every moment, the film evokes a reaction – don’t go out and celebrate on New Year’s Eve, stay at home and celebrate the birthday of your mother and perhaps most importantly, don’t go home on the train. 

One of the biggest successes of the film, aside from the performances from the cast, is Coogler’s ability to make it documentary-esque, as though it is happening in real-time and the audience are indeed witness to the terrible crime that caused such outrage in the United States.

The film has won multiple Independent Spirit and Sundance Film Festival awards and it is easy to see why. The movie leaves viewers with that useless and infuriating feeling of ‘if only he hadn’t…’  but for poor Oscar Grant, there is no ‘if only.’

This biopic masterpiece produced by Forest Whitaker is ripe for discovery and is a moving, emotional and heart-wrenching film, which must be watched. Words cannot do it justice.

Verdict:

★★★★

The film is available to buy on Blu-ray and DVD from October 6th and can also be purchased on digital download.

Here is the trailer for the movie:

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