Oakland, California. Young Afro-American Oscar Grant crosses paths with family members, friends, enemies and strangers before facing his fate on the platform at Fruitvale Station, in the early morning hours of New Year's Day 2009.
You wonder if Coogler would have felt freer had Grant somehow lived that night, if the director weren't put in a position where he felt the need to honor the dead by bringing him to dramatic life. But he believes in his ambition.
– Wesley Morris,
Grantland,
26 Jul 2013
fresh:
It's hard not to watch Fruitvale Station with a coiled dread... Yet, Coogler's greatest achievement may be in reminding us that Grant was a work in progress with people who loved him in spite of his flaws and because of his hopes.
– Lisa Kennedy,
Denver Post,
26 Jul 2013
fresh:
Writer-director Ryan Coogler's [film is an] assured and evenhanded debut.
– Mary F. Pols,
TIME Magazine,
10 Dec 2013
fresh:
The intimacy of debut writer-director Ryan Coogler's approach to the film and the no-frills, believably real quality of the main performances combine to drive the senselessness of Oscar's killing home with visceral impact.
– Bruce Ingram,
Chicago Sun-Times,
10 Dec 2013
fresh:
Michael B. Jordan is simply brilliant in his portrayal of Grant, whom Coogler presents as a generally happy, if complex and somewhat troubled young man.