If Beale Street Could Talk Review

If Beale Street Could Talk is well made and has some good acting but has no interesting story to tell and is just a giant bore. This movie is about a pregnant African-American woman whose fiancé is falsely imprisoned, and she sets out to prove his innocence. KiKi Layne gives a good performance. The script gives her very little to work with, but she does her best. Stephan James is easily the best part of this movie. Despite having very little screen time he makes you care about his character. Regina King gives an awful performance. The movie became borderline unwatchable anytime she was on screen. Brian Tyree Henry gives a decent performance but is severely underused. Dave Franco is insanely out of place in a small supporting role. Barry Jenkins direction is good, but he overuses close-ups to a comical amount. The script is poorly written and dull except for one very tense scene at the end of the first act. The cinematography is excellent. This is a beautiful movie to look at no matter what's going on. The score is extremely immersive and impressive and helps to prevent complete boredom. At 119 minutes the pacing is atrocious. This movie felt over three hours long and by the end, nothing had happened. Overall, If Beale Street Could Talk is a boring and poorly written film that I cannot recommend to anyone.

4/10