Nickel Boys, the novel, escaped my reading stack, but I wanted to see the film adaptation in preparation for my He Said She Said Talk at the Sarasota Art Museum February 24th.
Nickel Boys, adapted by RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes, was a bit of a relief for me. After shaking my head at The Brutalist and Emilia Perez excessive hype, I was worried Nickel Boys would follow suit. But nope! This film is a genuine work of art, BUT a little too experimental and Terrence Malickish oblique to be rewarded the Oscar.
But so close, though! The character building (which has to give a lot of credit to Colson Whitehead, the author of original novel) was tremendous and I really felt for the characters. Kudos to the two actors who were truly believable. Ethan Herisse looks to be a relative newcomer based on his IMDB page and he’s going places with his soulful eyes and quiet determination.
Brandon Wilson, likewise, plays the more cynical of the two, but just a terrific goose bumps performance. I’m thinking once more of the infirmary scene where he says he faked a stomach illness. His street wise poise was palpable.
And Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor is also a marvel as Elwood’s grandmother, a woman of subtle indignation and restrained love.
The hold back for me is in the surplus of obscure shots.
I’ll gladly eat up a collage, but as with The Substance and The Brutalist, excessiveness leads to diminished emotions. Two other issues were, the narrowness of the literal scope of the first person…had it had more peripheral, it would have seemed much more natural, and last, I think there needs to be an ending card with what justice has occurred regarding this abusive school and if none, that is just as important to inform the audience. I watched people walk out unfortunately too perplexed at the obscurity to care about the story and that would have been resolved by an ending info card.
So my Oscar Power Rankings are:
A Complete Unknown (though I’ll never stop whining about Sing Sing not being nominated)
The Substance
Anora
Nickel Boys
Conclave
The Brutalist
Emilia Perez
Wicked
Dune Part 2
