First and foremost, bruh…
Delroy Lindo has been putting in that W O R K for decades. The 2021 Academy Awards have been pushed back from February to April, due to the coronavirus pandemic, and that’s neither here nor there with regard to this next exclamatory statement:
IF DELROY LINDO DOES NOT RECEIVE A “BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE” ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATION FOR “PAUL” IN THIS HERE FILM, I WILL FLIP THE FUCK OUT!
That man was acting, ACT-TING! Delroy was in his 🛍️ 👝 👜 🎒 here.
The PTSD portrayal. 🔥
The hallucinations and mirages. 🔥
The angered flashbacks on the boat ride. 🔥
The portrayal of the broken relationship with his son. 🔥 Sheesh.
You know you’re watching good acting when you forget you’re watching actors. He committed to this role and it was refreshing. And scary. I admire that.
Delroy Lindo. Best Actor. And that’s that on that.
Casting: Shout out to the casting producer, Kim Coleman. Thank you for casting all the Black fathers, uncles and detectives of television, stage, and film history in one film. We got a “The Wire” reunion—good to see Clarke Peters (who portrayed Otis) and Isiah Whitlock Jr. poppin’. Whitock Jr., who played Melvin, has extended his iconic “SHEEEEEIIIIIIITTTT…” phrase to ✊🏾 ✊🏾 ✊🏾 Spike Lee Joints: “BlacKKKlansman,” “She’s Gotta Have It” (series), and “Da 5 Bloods.” They even got a theater legend in the building—good to see Norm Lewis in this one. And Lindo: “Crooklyn,” “Romeo Must Die,” “Malcolm X.”
I was honestly disturbed that they decided against casting younger actors for the flashback scenes during the Việt Nam tour with Stormin’ Norman (portrayed by Chadwick Boseman). Like, to orient the audience by switching the aspect ratio to dive back into that era, but not even attempt to de-age the actors was so strange and took me out of the groove. I’m not saying we needed Samuel L. Jackson in “Captain Marvel”-level CGI in this film—we know the tech is expensive. But at the end of the film, there’s a snapshot of da Bloods, and all, except Norm, looked de-age via either make-up or tech. Why? This would have been a fantastic opportunity to break new talent! That killed the momentum for me, and left me sort of confused about the scope of the film.
Loved the “BlacKKKlansman” casting crossovers. Jasper Pääkkönen was a knock-out in that film, so I’m glad he’s working with Lee again.
Also, shouts to the writers for naming the characters after The Temptations. I thought it was symbolic that Paul (played by Lindo) had a son named David, named after the lead singer of the Motown group. Paul Williams was the lead singer before David Ruffin joined the Temps—this small (maybe insignificant) detail also speaks to the tumultuous relationship we see unfold between the two men throughout the film. I loved the subtle nod. 👍🏾 👍🏾 👍🏾
I want nothing more than but for Jonathan Majors to work, and to work consistently. He’s talented, and I want to hug him. The Paul/David dynamic was phenomenal. I wasn’t expecting so much of their relationship to be central to the film’s plot. In one instance, you can feel their unconditional love for each other. David feels protected by his father, and Paul makes sure David is respected and treated as an equal in the group. But then, there’s a severe shift that seems irreparable, and the narrative sort of leaves it there. As an audience member, I wasn’t sure if I wanted a reconciliation, and I appreciated their relationship’s conclusion.
Music: Hard to eff up a Việt Nam War-era, soul heavy soundtrack. The score and soundtrack were my shit. Terence Blanchard did his thang, and has been composing the hell outta some of the best film and television scores over the last few years, but his work keeps getting overlooked. The song “Paul and Norman” is one of many of the beautifully composed pieces accompanying key scenes. But shawty, “Ride of the Valkyries” was an odd choice on their boat journey into the jungle. It didn’t vibe with the moment at all. Like, when I hear that song, I think of “Apocalypse Now,” also referenced during the club scene in the intro. “Ride of the Valkyries” prepares scenes for ass-whippery, or some battle-prep to come, not leisurely sailing through the jungle.
Cinematography: Shouts to the film’s colorist and cinematographer. The hues and tints were beautifully captured, regardless of the camera used. That green in the grass was so crisp during the morning trek in the rural parts of the jungle when the men passed by the buffalo. It’s like you could taste the dew on the grass. The scenes with Stormin’ Norman with the other four Bloods talking about what Hanoi Hannah mentioned on the radio, the shot with Norm against the palm leaves, the profile shot of Norm holding the gun towards the other four Bloods—chef’s kiss, superb. 👏🏾👏🏾 But I think the shots that did it for me were the ones after Paul departed from the other surviving Bloods and trekked along the river alone. He started hallucinating and breaking the fourth wall—you could see every bead of sweat on his person against his ongoing hysteria and with such clarity. That’s the stuff I look for. I really enjoyed so many elements in those scenes.
Now, for a break to fawn over Mr. Boseman. Bruh, look at this man…
Chadwick was fantastic in his brief role as “Stormin’ Norman,” the squad leader of da Bloods during their tour. He’s already solidified himself as a young legend in the industry after they’d casted him as every Black historical figure they had scripts for over a four-year period. Then as the world’s favorite “new” superhero. Then there was word that he’d been casted to portray Japan’s first African samurai, Yasuke—ya get it. Homeboy is solid. He surprised me a bit in this one though. I wasn’t expecting such a sharp performance. His scenes alongside Lindo during the film’s conclusion were tender. 😢
Other minor areas of concern:
🎖️ The happenstance of the David finding the gold on his way to take a poop was a little too convenient for my liking, but I let it go. I mean, da Bloods did mention a recent mudslide and wanting to get to the gold before it was discovered by others, but I definitely made the “oh, aight” 😒 face when David found it.
🎖️ The narrative is linear, and that isn’t really concerning, but it was noticeable during the introduction and rising action. The first half of the film was a hefty. Shawty was thick, and was laced with tidbits that unfolded more during the falling action and conclusion. It just felt like it took forever to get to the main aims. I kept thinking: “alllllllright, I’m with you, but where are we going here?” The climax really ignited the narrative.
I had issues with some of the clumsy obviousness during a few scenes. For example, we meet the group of anti-landmine folks in the bar, and bruh it was almost too clear that one of da Bloods would perish before the trip ended via landmine explosion. They’d overemphasized the point of old landmines present in the hills for this not to be the case. We also notice from Paul’s interactions with others, and his guilt trips when discussing Norman, that he knows something about Norm that the other men don’t and feels a deeper duty to get through this double mission. I suspected that Paul had either killed Norm or something; something just didn’t quite curl right about his obsessive tendencies and aggressive personality.
I hate when I can guess shit. That kinda blew my vibe.
I wasn’t expecting the conclusion. It was bloody and action-y, and I dug it a lot. Spike did his thang.
I appreciate his direction and incorporating archival footage and images throughout the film to provide context about the time. I don’t mind films feeling like a documentary when it’s using either a current or previous war as the backdrop. It helped frame da Bloods’ shared experiences, and peek into the differences in their personalities after being apart for so long before coming back together.
The timeliness of this film is also palpable. This review was difficult to articulate for many reasons. It is an understatement to mention we are living during times of high stress, anxiety, fear, and depression. This film referenced a few statistics that I think are important to consider for our times:
Black people accounted for 11% of the U.S. population during the war, but accounted for 33% of troops stationed in Việt Nam. Black bodies have been dying in every war for the “idea” of nation since the American Revolution (see Crispus Attucks). For rights. “All men are created equal.” “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Black people have fought and died for every part of this country, and continue to. Black people have sacrificed for this nation, given up everything for this nation, and died in other countries for rights they didn’t/don’t have in their own nation.
This is not news.
These issues are centuries old.
And we are fucking tired.