"If Beale Street Could Talk" Movie Review

If Beale Street Could Talk, an adaptation of William Baldwin's 1974 novel, is a love story, set not on the schmaltzy plains of romantic comedy but in the suffocating confines of the real world inhabited by poor African-Americans.

The couple, 22-year-old Alonzo "Fonny" Hunt and 19-year-old Clementine "Tish" Rivers, find their already beseiged dreams take a nosedive when Fonny is arrested and charged with rape. The two Harlem natives have known each other all of their lives and were best friends for years before realizing that they were in love. Tish knows that Fonny's innocent, not only because he's morally incapable of commiting such an act, but also because he was with her and a friend (Daniel) at the time that the assault took place. A racist police officer reported that he'd witnessed Fonny running from the scene of the crime before he apprehended him at his home -- an impossibility given the distance between apartments and times involved. However, the victim, Victoria Rios, subsequently picked Fonny out of a line-up.

To further complicate matters, Tish reveals that she's pregnant, which is very welcome, albeit frustrating news to Fonny, given that he's facing the prospect of only seeing his child during jail visits. With the support of her family, Tish delivers the news of her pregnancy to Fonny's family. While Fonny's father, Frank, is overjoyed at the prospect of becoming a grandfather, Fonny's sister and mother react negatively to the announcement and don't even bother to conceal their disdain for Tish. Mrs. Hunt even goes so far as to curse the unborn baby, which elicits a slap from Frank. Shortly after he leaves with Joseph (Tish's father) to celebrate at a bar, Frank's wife and daughters are unceremoniously excused from the Rivers' home.

Realizing that Fonny's legal defense will cost more money than they make at their respective jobs, Frank and Joseph decide to raise funds by stealing clothes and selling them.

As though things couldn't get any worse, the police arrest Daniel in an attempt to discourage him from testifying on Fonny's behalf. Then, Fonny's attorney learns that Victoria Rios has disappeared, and consequently, won't be available for him to cross-examine. Meanwhile, the horrors of jail are taking a toll on Fonny's morale and overall psyche.

After the families learn that Victoria has fled to her native Puerto Rico and raise enough money for the journey, Tish's mother, Sharon, follows her to the island. When Sharon finally speaks to Victoria it becomes clear that she never got a good look at her attacker. But she refuses to return to New York to testify. After Tish fills Fonny in on the situation, he decides to accept a plea deal. The film then flashes forward years later as Tish and Alonzo Jr. visit Fonny in prison.

The film maintains a dream-like quality throughout, which, because of the non-linear presentation of the story's events, often descends into nightmare. The euphoria is propelled, in part, by a sublime score. If Beale Street Could Talk is a period piece that offers an up-close-and-personal look at issues (namely, police corruption, institutional racism, a broken criminal justice system, sexual harassment and assault and false accusations) that plague us today.

Beale Street is remarkably similar to 2017's criminally underrated Crown Heights, based on the true story of Colin Warner, a New Yorker and African-American man who was wrongfully convicted of murder in 1980. Warner spent 20 years in prison before the efforts of his lifelong friend, Carl King, led to his release. Films like Crown Heights and Beale Street aren't similar due to Hollywood's age-old tendency towards exhaustive imitation but rather because the stories that they tell are, tragically, all too common.

Originally Posted 2/4/19