“If Beale Street Could Talk” lives up to reviews by critics

Morgan Brunson

Blue & White Flash/ Staff Writer

 

“If Beale Street Could Talk”premiered Dec. 25, 2019, and has received astonishing reviews and commentary from many viewers, critics, and cinema directors.

 

The film profited over $7.5 million in box office revenue, and in its opening weekend, the film made $219,174 from four theaters, a per-venue average of $54,794, one of the best of 2018 according to Deadline Hollywood.  

“If Beale Street Could Talk”won a Satellite Award for Best Cinematography, and the film director, Barry Jenkins, won a Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Regina King, who played Tish’s mother, won a New York Film Critic Award for Best Supporting Actress, Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress, and National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress.

 

The movie is a moving love story of a couple’s unbreakable bond and the African-American family’s empowering embrace, as told through the eyes of 19-year-old Tish Rivers. A daughter and wife-to-be, Tish vividly recalls the passion, respect and trust that have connected her and her artist fiancé, Alonzo Hunt, who goes by the nickname Fonny.

 

Friends since childhood, the devoted couple dream of a future together but their plans are derailed when Fonny is arrested for a crime he did not commit.

The film captures more than just a love story, its visual sensibility and storytelling enables viewers to feel the pain and heartache with the actors throughout the entire storyline.

Jenkins has managed to capture a timeless and romantic film, that explores a racially-biased world where family and love reign supreme.

 

“If Beale Street Could Talk”received a jaw dropping 95 percent from approved critics who have given the movie a positive review on Rotten Tomatoes, a definitive site for trusted film reviews. Not only did critics have nothing but good things to say about the film, but the audiences average score for the film was above average at 72 percent.

 

On the reviewer site, Richard Roeper, a film critic from the Chicago Sun-Times rated the film a 4/4 stating, “This movie works as a timeless romance, a family drama, a legal thriller and a poignant social commentary. A great American novel has been turned into a great American film.” 

Based off the novel written by James Baldwin, an African American novelist and social critic, the book was published June 17, 1947.

 

Sydney Turner, a senior biology major from Little Rock, Ark. stated, “I thought it was interesting. It wasn’t what I thought it would be, but it was still a pretty good movie.”

 

Turner may not be alone on her views of the movie, as for other watchers, if you had not heard of the book or seen trailer, you might have assumed the movie was based on the actual Beale Street in Memphis, Tenn., which is full of touristy restaurants and lively music.

 

Fortunately, despite the first impression of what anticipated moviegoers watched in the promo, the flick still received a positive review.

 

Looking for a movie with purpose and depth, look no further than“If Beale Street Could Talk”, at your local movie theatre!