The intro to rising action was heavy on the extremely slow mo, ‘regular-degular-shmegular’ slow mo, and close up shots. Post-climax used more mid shots, which felt intentional—as if the director was hinting to the audience to distance themselves from the notion that the protagonist, Jimmie Fails (actor’s name too), has the best intentions and to caution against the inevitability of unfortunate truths in the film’s conclusion. You want to fight alongside Jimmie, but in the end you feel played. 

Framing composition and editing were dope. Lots of blurred background against hyper-focused foreground shooting.  Cuts were sharp, no pun intended. I think they were jump cuts to be accurate. Bruh, the follow through editing with the “tumbleWEAVE” scene!!! 😂😂😂 BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

The score was fitting. Soundtrack was dope too. 

Themes of gentrification were laid on, but no so-so thick.  It seeped through the screenplay from beginning to end, something that tends to be apparent in films that have been set in the Bay Area and released in the last few years, like “Blindspotting.” Sort of a necessary focus area for the times. I appreciated that this film gave us the side of gentrification that was more nuanced than just people in positions of power “taking over” and changing the social, economic, racial, and cultural perspective of a space with no residual benefit to the natives.  One of those nuances was the use of specific vernacular: “hella” and whatnot. Shit that like makes art based on life feel authenticated. 😏😏

It took a minute to catch the tone, which is great for someone like me who tends to tangentially think in several altering directions at once, but you can tell there was a particular focus the director and writers wanted to portray. The two leads, Jimmie Fails and Johnathan Mayors (who plays Montgomery Allen) did a fantastic job with their roles, and the supporting characters were special. Shouts to Mike Epps! I think he’s a whole fool and can overwhelm me with his histrionics at times, but I love him in mini-bites.

Shouts to Adidas. Shouts to black skateboarders. Shouts to specific ass ethnic shit that me and my cinema neighbor cackled at throughout the entire film. This is what makes films great to me—when strangers can connect on mundanities of life that not many others would catch or remotely understand to evoke any emotions. Can’t wait to see more from Joe Talbot.