8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Collin must make it through his final three days of probation for a chance at a new beginning. He and his troublemaking childhood best friend, Miles, work as movers and are forced to watch their old neighborhood become a trendy spot in the rapidly gentrifying Bay Area. When a life-altering event causes Collin to miss his mandatory curfew, the two men struggle to maintain their friendship as the changing social landscape exposes their differences.
Starring: Daveed Diggs, Rafael Casal, Janina Gavankar, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Ethan EmbryDrama | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
feat. commentary tracks [DD 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps]
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Is Oakland, California really that bad? Sure, it has a somewhat less glamorous reputation than its sister city across the bay, San Francisco, but, again — is it really that bad? Blindspotting is now the second film in just the past few weeks that I’ve reviewed that paints Oakland in a less than favorable light. Sorry to Bother You depicted a downright dystopian Oakland where a black man learns to survive as a telemarketer by using his “white voice”, only to undergo a rather startling transformation that is either surrealism or magical realism, depending on your particular bent. That element may have lended a “cartoonish” aspect to the entire film which made some of its more troubling aspects appear what might be termed whimsical. Despite toeing a rather thin line poised between (often dark) comedy and more disturbing drama, Blindspotting is more or less firmly rooted in “reality”, which makes some of its depictions of Oakland all the more unsettling. The film initially seems like it’s going to be a comedy of errors detailing the efforts of recently paroled Collin Hoskins (Daveed Diggs) to make it through his year of probation without getting sent back to stir. That misdirection is probably aided by a “countdown clock” of sorts that appears on a few occasions detailing how much time is left, though the fact that the first installment of this interstitial supertitle indicates that Collin is in the last three days of his probation may indicate up front that the film actually has other things on its mind. Suffice it to say that while Collin does make it through his probationary period, one incident in particular haunts him going forward, even while his continuing relationship with buddy Miles (Rafael Casal) repeatedly threatens to unravel into sheer chaos.
Blindspotting is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Digitally captured with a variety of Arri Alexa cameras and finished at a 2K DI (all according to the IMDb, though Arri cameras are clearly seen in the making of supplement included on the Blu-ray), Blindspotting has a bit of a "verité" ambience at times which can tend to offer a somewhat grittier, less sharp, appearance than is often the case with contemporary shot films. There's quite a bit of outdoor material which pops authentically, with a vivid palette that emphasizes some especially vibrant blues. Other scenes, like the first scene in the car after the parole hearing, are bathed in various blue hues, and the central scene involving the policeman, alluded to in the main body of the review above, has some interesting red tones, but detail levels remain commendably high. A few scenes are shot with fairly effulgent back lighting, and detail levels are understandably lessened by the glow surrounding objects. The film is peppered with close-ups, sometimes in split screen moments, and those offer excellent fine detail levels.
Blindspotting offers a vigorous Dolby Atmos track that gains considerable energy from source cues, but which provides some appealing immersion in sometimes unexpected environments, such as that first post-parole hearing scene in the car, where, despite a claustrophobic setting, has really excellent separation and discrete channelization of effects. The film is punctuated with good ambient environmental sounds in many of the outdoor scenes, and even relatively unimportant moments like the boys in their moving van can offer good panning and other effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly, and dynamic range is surprisingly wide for such a "talky" feature.
My question about Oakland above isn't purely academic, since my eldest son has recently gotten his first post-college full time job there. Somewhat hilariously, considering how the city is portrayed both in Blindspotting and Sorry to Bother You, my son told me before he even moved there that there was no way he would be living in Oakland, and that despite the added expense San Francisco would be his "room and board" locale. The Oakland Chamber of Commerce may want to rethink its marketing strategies given the one-two punch of these films, but in a way, Blindspotting is actually an ode to two Oaklanders surviving and maybe even prospering together. This is a really fascinating film that runs an extremely wide gamut in the tone department, so viewers are best advised to come prepared for sudden jarring changes in emotional content. Technical merits are solid, and Blindspotting comes Recommended.
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